Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 · Chapter V: Of Documentary Evidence · Public documents
Section 74: Public and private documents
(1) The following documents are public documents:—
(a) documents forming the acts, or records of the acts—
(i) of the sovereign authority;
(ii) of official bodies and tribunals; and
(iii) of public officers, legislative, judicial and executive of India or of a foreign country;
(b) public records kept in any State or Union territory of private documents.
(2) All other documents except the documents referred to in sub-section (1) are private.
Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 25 August 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 74
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.