fact in issue

Under s.2(1)(g) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (old s.3 Evidence Act), a fact in issue is any fact from which, alone or with other facts, the existence, nature or extent of a right, liability or disability asserted or denied in the proceeding necessarily follows. In a murder trial the facts in issue are the ingredients of the offence: that the deceased died, that the accused caused the death, and that he did so with the required intention or knowledge.

Section 3 BSA (old s.5) allows evidence only of facts in issue and relevant facts. Students often mix the two: a fact in issue is what the case is about; a relevant fact is one connected to it in a way the Act recognises, such as motive or conduct. In civil suits the facts in issue are found from the pleadings and set out as issues under Order XIV CPC.

Example

In a suit on a promissory note, whether the defendant signed the note is a fact in issue, while his presence in the town that day is only a relevant fact.

In Indian law

• Section 2(1)(g), Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (old s.3, Evidence Act, 1872)
• Section 3, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (old s.5): evidence only of facts in issue and relevant facts

See also

relevant fact · issues · facta probanda · relevancy and admissibility

Read more in the study notes

• Introduction to the law of evidence and its central conceptions (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Res gestae, motive, conduct, identification, conspiracy and alibi (sections 4 to 9) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Admissions: definition, persons whose admissions are relevant, and evidentiary value (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Relevance of judgments of courts (sections 34 to 38) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Character evidence in civil and criminal cases (sections 46 to 50) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Leading questions, lawful questions in cross-examination and compulsion to answer (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)