PUBLIC AND PRIVATE DOCUMENTS

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Document

The word ‘document’ is defined under Section 2(1)(d) of Bharatiya Sakshya Adiniyanam, 2023’ (‘BSA’ for short) as any matter expressed or described or otherwise recorded upon any substance by means of letters, figures or marks or any other means or by more than one of those means, intended to be used, or which may be used, for the purpose of recording that matter and includes electronic and digital records.  The following are the illustrations given in this section as documents-

• A writing is a document.
• Words printed, lithographed or photographed are documents.
• A map or plan is a document.
• An inscription on a metal plate or stone is a document.
• A caricature is a document.
• An electronic record on emails, server logs, documents on computers, laptop or smartphone, messages, websites, locational evidence and voice mail messages stored on digital devices are documents.

Documents in legal field

Formal document means any contractual agreement that indicates the existence of a contractual relationship between parties.  Documentation plays a crucial role in legal proceedings in India, as it serves as evidence and means of record-keeping to establish facts, substantiate claims and ensure transparent in the legal system.

Type of documents

Section 74 of BSA provides two types of documents.  They are public documents and private documents.  Section 74(1) provides the list of documents which are termed as public documents.   They are-

• documents forming the acts, or records of the acts-

• of the sovereign authority;
• of official bodies and tribunals; and
• of public officers, legislative, judicial and executive of India or of a foreign country;

• public records kept in any State or Union territory of private documents.

All other documents are private documents.

Public Documents under Companies Act, 2013

Many Acts prescribe some documents as public documents which can be inspected by public at the request of that person to the concerned authority either by free of charges or on payment of prescribed fee.  On inspection of the said documents the concerned person can take copies of documents after paying the prescribed fees for each page.

There are public documents under Companies Act, 2013 that are open for public view such as incorporation documents, annual returns, balance sheet etc., of a company or Limited Liability Partnership.  Certified copies may be obtained in MCA portal by clicking https://www.mca.gov.in/mcafoportal/getCertifiedCopies.do. The name of the company/LLP, Company CIN /FCRN, company registration number, country of origin are to be entered.  Scanned copies of documents may also be obtained from MCA by applying for the same. 

Other examples of public documents

The following some of the documents are treated as public documents-

• Electoral roll of all the districts;
• Census Report of India;
• Town planning reports by the Department of State Development;
• Village records of the villages;
• Public records keeping the original private documents and not the copy;
• Records of national banks;
• Birth and death registers;
• Charges sheets;
• Confessions recorded by a Magistrate under Section 164 of Cr.PC (Section 183 of BNSS);
• Sanction to prosecute;
• Record of information under Section 145 of Cr.PC (Section 164 of BNSS);
• Notice under Section 106 of CrPC (Section 125 of BNSS).

Certified copies of public documents

Any person is having right to inspect public documents and also take a copy of the same on the payment of fees as prescribed.  Section 75 of BSA provides that  every public officer having the custody of a public document, which any person has a right to inspect, shall give that person on demand a copy of it on payment of the legal fees therefor, together with a certificate written at the foot of such copy that it is a true copy of such document or part thereof, as the case may be, and such certificate shall be dated and subscribed by such officer with his name and his official title, and shall be sealed, whenever such officer is authorised by law to make use of a seal; and such copies so certified shall be called certified copies.  Any officer who, by the ordinary course of official duty, is authorised to deliver such copies, shall be deemed to have the custody of such documents within the meaning of this section.

Proof of documents

Section 76 of BSA provides that certified copies may be produced in proof of the contents of the public documents or parts of the public documents of which they purport to be copies.

Section 77 provides for the proof of the following documents-

• Acts or orders or notifications – Acts, orders or notifications of the Central Government in any of its Ministries and Departments or of any State Government or any Department of any State Government or Union territory Administration may be proved-

• by the records of the Departments, certified by the head of those Departments respectively; or
• by any document purporting to be printed by order of any such Government;

• Proceedings of parliament or State Legislature – the proceedings of the Parliament or State Legislature may be proved by the journals of those bodies respectively, or by published Acts or abstracts, or by copies purporting to be printed by order of the Government concerned;
• Proclamations, orders or Regulations – The President of India or the Governors of the respective State Governments or Administrator or Lieutenant Governor of a Union territory are empowered to made proclamations or orders or Regulations.  They can be proved by copies or extracts contained in the Official Gazette;
• The Acts of the Executive or the proceedings of the Legislature of a foreign country – The same may be proved by the journals published by their authority, or commonly received in that country as such, or by a copy certified under the seal of the country or sovereign, or by a recognition thereof in any Central Act;
• The proceedings of a municipal or local body in a State – they may be proved by documents certified by the legal keeper thereof, or by a printed book purporting to be published by the authority of such body;
•  Public documents of any other class in a foreign country – these documents may be verified by the original or by a copy certified by the legal keeper thereof, with a certificate under the seal of a Notary Public, or of an Indian Consul or diplomatic agent, that the copy is duly certified by the officer having the legal custody of the original, and upon proof of the character of the document according to the law of the foreign country.