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Decoding Section 63(4) of BSA, 2023: Supreme Court Settles the Controversy on Hash Values and Expert Certificates in Pune Bar Association v. UOI : Electronic Evidence under Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam: Why the Supreme Court Upheld Section 63(4) and Redefined "Expert" Criteria : The Digital Fingerprint of Law: Supreme Court's Landmark Clarification on Hash Values, Expert Signatures, and BSA Section 63(4)

1. Introduction The transition from the old Indian Evidence Act, 1872, to the newly enacted Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), has triggered intense academic and courtroom debates . At the absolute center of this legal shift is Section 63(4) of the BSA , which introduces rigorous statutory prerequisites for admitting secondary electronic records into evidence . In a significant order passed by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India in Pune Bar Association v. Union of India and Others (2026) , the apex court evaluated the constitutional validity of this stringent new regime . The petitioner challenged the mandatory requirements of disclosing "hash values" and procuring expert signatures, calling them "manifestly arbitrary" and excessively burdensome for ordinary litigants . This landmark judgment clears the air on electronic evidence authentication, providing essential clarity for contemporary litigation, future judicial exams, and technological ad...

A Case Involving a Long-Term Consensual Relationship Quashing Criminal Proceedings For Rape And Unnatural Sex: Must Read

The Court clarified the legal distinction between a "false promise of marriage" and a "breach of promise," emphasizing that prolonged physical intimacy often indicates consensual cohabitation rather than deception . Case Background The appellant and the complainant met through a matrimonial site in 2017 . At the time, both parties were still legally married to their respective spouses . The complainant alleged that the appellant lured her with a promise of marriage, leading to sexual intercourse against her will in October 2017 . However, she did not file a complaint until February 2021 . Key Findings of the Court The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and quashed the proceedings based on the following observations: Knowledge and Consent: Both parties were aware of each other’s existing marriages . The complainant even created a matrimonial profile and entered the relationship before her divorce was finalized in 2018 . Prolonged Relationship: The parties travele...