INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anuradha Mukherjee, Omar Ahmad, Vikram Shah and Soumya Dasgupta, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
agement hearing no later than four weeks after the date of filing of the affidavit of admissions/ denial of documents. The law requires the court to ensure that the arguments are closed no later than six months after the date of the first case management hearing. However, strict adher- ence to such timeframes is not always possible in practice, on account of the huge pendency of cases before the court. 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases Jury trials have been abolished in India. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence From 1 July 2024, evidence and its admissibility are governed by the BSA, which provides gener- al rules and principles of evidence for a fair trial. Chapter II of the BSA regards the “Relevancy of Facts” and deals with: • closely connected facts; • admissions; • statements made under special circumstanc- es; • how much of a statement needs to be proved; • judgments of courts when relevant; • opinions of third persons when relevant; and • character when relevant. Other chapters of the BSA deal with the follow- ing: • Chapter III: facts that do not need to be proved; • Chapter IV: oral evidence; • Chapter V: documentary evidence; • Chapter VI: exclusion of oral evidence by documentary evidence; • Chapter VII: the production and effect of evidence;
• Chapter VIII: estoppel; • Chapter IX: witnesses;
• Chapter X: examination of witnesses; and • Chapter XI: improper admission and rejection of evidence. Notably, India does not recognise the concept of the “fruit of the poisonous tree”, which gives courts sweeping powers to accept and consider evidence regardless of its source. 7.5 Expert Testimony Expert evidence is permitted by courts in India, and parties and even the courts are permitted to introduce expert testimony. The BSA deals with the relevancy of opinions of third parties in relation to points of foreign law, art, science, handwriting identification, general customs or rights, etc. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public Please see 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings . In addition, with the advent of technology, court proceedings are also being livestreamed and thus are easily accessible. So far as transcripts of hearings are concerned, this is a fairly new concept for courts in India and is being intro- duced on a case-by-case basis. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge As India follows an adversarial rather than an inquisitorial system, the role of judges is typi- cally limited to regulation of the proceedings and adjudication of the dispute on the basis of the facts and evidence adduced before the court. In certain circumstances, judges may take a more active role in the proceedings in the interests of equity and justice, by directing pointed ques- tions to the legal representatives.
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