State of mind and body

A shopkeeper in Thane is found with one fake 500-rupee note and says he had no idea it was fake. Then the police find twenty more fakes in his drawer. Does the drawer matter? It does, because one fake note may be an honest mistake, and twenty are hard to explain as innocence. A mind cannot be opened up and read, so the law lets the court look at facts from which the state of mind can be seen. Sections 12, 13 and 14 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 set out which facts qualify.

In two minutes

Section 12 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 makes relevant facts showing a state of mind or body when that state is in issue or relevant, provided they show it in reference to the particular matter, not generally; section 13 covers series of similar occurrences on whether an act was accidental or intentional, and section 14 covers course of business.

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