Public Document

Public documents are documents that are created by or in the exercise of the functions of a public authority or a court, and are kept in official custody — intended for public use or available for public inspection. Section 72 of the BSA, 2023 (formerly Section 74 IEA) defines public documents as: (1) documents forming the acts or records of the acts of the sovereign authority; (2) documents forming the acts or records of the acts of official bodies and tribunals; and (3) documents forming the acts or records of the acts of public officers, legislative, judicial, and executive, whether of India or any foreign country. Documents relating to private legal acts such as marriages, births, deaths entered in official registers are also public documents.

Why the distinction matters: (1) A certified copy of a public document is admissible as evidence of its contents without the production of the original document (Section 74 BSA — formerly IEA Section 76). The certified copy itself proves the content — it has the same evidential value as the original for the purpose of proof. (2) Public documents do not need to be proved in the manner required for private documents — they carry a presumption of correctness when produced in their official form or as certified copies (Section 79-86 BSA). (3) Private documents, by contrast, must be proved by producing the primary evidence (original) or by bringing the case within the conditions permitting secondary evidence.

Examples of public documents: (1) Judgments and orders of courts — certified copies from the registry; (2) Acts of Parliament and State Legislatures — official Gazette publications; (3) Birth, death, and marriage certificates from municipal records; (4) Land records and property registers (such as records of rights from the revenue department); (5) Certified copies of registered documents from the office of the Sub-Registrar; (6) Police First Information Reports (FIRs); and (7) Electoral rolls. These are all public documents in official custody and their certified copies are admissible without the original.

For advocates, the public document vs private document distinction matters in: (1) property suits — whether a land record is a public document (certified copy sufficient) or private document (original required); (2) proving the content of legislation — a Gazette notification is a public document; (3) foreign public documents — under Section 78 BSA (formerly IEA Section 80), there is a presumption of genuineness for foreign official documents authenticated in the prescribed manner; and (4) birth certificates and other official records in family law proceedings.