Importance of oral and documentary evidence

Evidence is a crucial aspect in any legal case. In India, the law of evidence is governed by the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The act deals with both oral and documentary evidence and their admissibility in court.

Oral evidence refers to statements made by witnesses through their voice, speech, or symbols for recording before the court. The provisions related to oral evidence are given under Chapter IV of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It is important to note that, if oral evidence is credible, it is sufficient to prove a fact or a title without any documentary evidence.

On the other hand, documentary evidence is a statement submitted through documents and is composed of words, signs, letters, figures, and remarks. The main advantage of documentary evidence over oral evidence is its permanence and trustworthiness. However, the value of documentary evidence becomes meaningless if the writer has to be called in every case to give oral evidence of its contents. This highlights the importance of oral evidence in supplementing and strengthening documentary evidence.

In conclusion, both oral and documentary evidence play a vital role in the Indian legal system. While documentary evidence is considered to be stronger and more reliable, the credibility and reliability of oral evidence should not be underestimated. Both forms of evidence have their own strengths and limitations and their importance varies from case to case and circumstances. Ultimately, the strength of each type of evidence is determined by their ability to influence the case and impact the judgment.

In my opinion many of the cases fail because of bad oral evidence lead by the party and for non production of proper documentary evidence.  So I urge through this medium that parties should be thoroughly sensitised before they enter the witness box in a Court of Law.  Many a time I have observed in the Courts,  people whether they are literate/illiterate, urbanite or a rural folk they adduce evidence so casually without realising the consequence or the impact that word will have on their case.  They behave so causally!  Only few people will have a focused mind set and such people narrate the facts properly.  We see another set of people who are otherwise worldly wise and in the Lawyers chambers they act very smart and they understand the impact of the points to be adduced but when they stand before a judge in the witness box they instead of revealing the exact truth and fact , I don’t know out of servile attitude or because lack of knowledge of court room and the impact of their behaviour and conduct that will have on their case – when a question is put by an advocate or by the court, instead of revealing the truth they say something else.  Such people I feel instead of losing the case, better to give a Power of Attorney to a relative or friend who will have balance of mind and thought and who is capable of adducing proper evidence to support the case properly.