Who may testify?

A nine-year-old is the only person who saw a scooter hit her grandmother outside a Dadar market. Her classmate’s father, a retired High Court judge, saw it too but says he cannot be made to talk about his courtroom. The accused’s wife was in the house that night. Who among them can the court actually hear, and who can refuse to answer? The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 answers in Chapter IX, and it begins with a rule far more generous than most first-year students expect.

In two minutes

Under s.124 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 everyone is competent to testify unless the Court finds that tender years, extreme old age, disease or a similar cause stops them understanding the questions or giving rational answers; ss.125–139 then deal with witnesses who cannot speak, spouses, judges, privileges and accomplices.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Law of Evidence on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.