Relevant Facts and Fact in Issue Under BSA

 Fact in Issue / Relevant Fact -

Section 3 of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 —

When a case goes to court, the most important thing is evidence — what you can prove and how you prove it. But not every piece of information can be used as evidence. That’s exactly what Section 3 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) tells us.

This section deals with what kind of facts are allowed as evidence during a case. It actually comes from Section 5 of the old Indian Evidence Act, 1872, updated to align with the modern BSA framework.

The Legal Definition
The section says: “Evidence may be given in any suit or proceeding of the existence or non-existence of every fact in issue and of such other facts as are hereinafter declared to be relevant, and of no others.”

In simple English during any legal case, a person can only give evidence about:

1.    Facts in issue, and

2.    Relevant facts,

Facts

The Law of Evidence deals only with the proof of facts, and therefore it is essential that the evidence produced before a court must relate strictly to facts and not opinions or assumptions.

According to Section 2(1)(f), a fact means and includes:

1.    Anything, state of things, or relation of things that can be perceived by the human senses—such as what can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled.

2.    Any mental condition of which a person is consciously aware.

Classification of Facts

The jurist Jeremy Bentham classified facts into two broad categories:

1.    Physical (External) Facts

2.    Psychological (Internal) Facts

●      Physical or external facts are those facts that can be directly perceived through the senses. For example, seeing an accident occur or hearing a gunshot.

●      Psychological or internal facts relate to the mental condition of a person, such as intention, knowledge, or belief, of which the person is conscious.

Fact in Issue

According to Section 2(1)(g), a fact in issue means and includes any fact from which—either by itself or in connection with other facts—the existence, non-existence, nature, or extent of any right, liability, or disability asserted or denied in a suit or legal proceeding necessarily follows.

In simple words, a fact in issue is a fact that directly helps the court decide who is legally right or wrong.

Example/Illustration -

Suppose A is charged with the murder of B. Before A can be convicted, the prosecution must prove the following facts:

1.    That B has died.

2.    That the death was a case of homicide and not suicide or accident.

3.    That A caused B’s death.

4.    That A had the intention to cause B’s death.

Why These Are Facts in Issue

All these facts are facts in issue because:

●      Each of them falls within the definition of a fact, and

●      Taken together, they establish the existence of A’s criminal liability for murder, which is asserted by the prosecution and denied by A.

Facts Affecting the Extent of Liability

In the same example, if A proves that he acted under grave and sudden provocation by B, this also becomes a fact in issue. This is because, when considered with other facts, it determines the extent of A’s liability. In such a case, A would be guilty only of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and not murder.

Similarly, if A establishes that at the time of causing B’s death he was of unsound mind, and therefore incapable of understanding the nature of his act, this too would be a fact in issue. This is because it proves the non-existence of A’s liability for murder.

In other Words
Thus, a fact qualifies as a fact in issue only when it is essential for determining the question of right or liability in a case. A fact in issue is also known by its Latin term factum probandum, meaning “the fact which has to be proved.”

Relevant Facts:

A relevant fact is also known by its Latin expression factum probans, which means “a fact that proves.”

According to Section 2(1)(k), one fact is said to be relevant to another when the two are connected in any of the ways specified under the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act relating to the relevancy of facts.

The provisions dealing with relevant facts are contained from Sections 4 to 50 of the Act. Therefore, parties to a case are permitted to produce evidence only in respect of these relevant facts. Any fact that does not fall within these provisions is considered irrelevant and inadmissible in court.

Although the Act does not provide a direct definition of a relevant fact, generally speaking, relevant facts are those facts which are not themselves facts in issue ,but are so closely connected with the facts in issue or disputed facts that they help the court in discovering the truth.

In other words, relevant facts support, explain, or clarify the facts in issue, and thereby assist the court in arriving at a just conclusion.

 

Fact in Issue vs Relevant Fact Difference –

Basis

Fact in Issue

Relevant Fact

Meaning

A fact from which a legal right, liability or disability in dispute directly arises and on which the Court must give its decision.

A fact connected with a fact in issue in such a way that it makes the existence or non‑existence of that fact more or less probable.

 

 

 

Other names

Principal fact; factum probandum (fact to be proved).

Evidentiary fact; factum probandi (fact by which another fact is proved).

Role in rights/liability

A necessary ingredient of any right, liability or disability in question.

Not a necessary ingredient of a right, liability or disability, but supports or attacks them.

Who frames/identifies

Generally framed by the Court (issues in civil cases; charge in criminal cases).

Generally selected and presented by lawyers as per the rules of relevancy in the Evidence Act.

Function in the case

Shows what exactly is in dispute and what the Court must finally decide.

Forms the basis of inference and helps the Court reach a decision on the facts in issue.

Procedural determination

In civil cases, determined through framing of issues under Order 14 CPC; in criminal cases, through the charge framed by the trial court.

Determined by checking whether a fact falls under Sections (e.g., motive, same transaction, cause, identity, etc.).

Example

Whether A committed robbery; whether A caused B’s death; whether A intended to cause B’s death.

Motive behind committing robbery ; facts forming part of the same transaction ; facts explaining or identifying a fact in issue; facts showing cause or effect .

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