Certificate U/S 65B Evidence Act Must Be Issued By Original Device Holder For Electronic Evidence: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has held that the certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act is required to be submitted by the person who possessed the original device in which the evidence was recorded, and not the one in whose device the evidence was merely transferred from the original device.

The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand was hearing a petition against the order of the Rent Tribunal that allowed the respondent's application to produce an electronic device contained in a Pen Drive and a Compact Disc.

It was the case of the petitioner that the video was recorded in someone else's device, and was transferred to the device of the respondent no. 2 who produced the relevant pen drive and CD on record along with a certificate under Section 65B.

However, since the original recording was done in the device of a third party, the certificate of that third party was required to be submitted along with the evidence, to make the evidence admissible under the Indian Evidence Act.

After hearing the contentions, the Court referred to the Supreme Court case of Anvar P.V. v P.K. Basheer in which it was held that the certificate must be only issued by the person who was occupying the device at the relevant time.

In this light, it was held that the certificate produced by respondent no. 2 was not valid since the video was not recorded on his device originally, and liberty was granted to the respondents to produce the certificate of the one on whose device the evidence was originally recorded.

Accordingly, the petition was disposed of.

Title: Shwetabh Singhal v M/s Jk and Sons & Ors.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 320

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