res gestae

Literally “things done”. Section 4 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (old s.6 Evidence Act) makes relevant facts which, though not in issue, are so connected with a fact in issue as to form part of the same transaction, whether they occurred at the same time and place or at different times and places. Statements and exclamations made at the time, by the victim, the accused or bystanders, are admitted under it.

The key requirement is contemporaneity: the statement must be made during the transaction or so soon after that there was no time to concoct. A narrative given later, after the event is over, is not res gestae but hearsay. Res gestae is thus an exception to the hearsay rule, and courts apply it with care.

Example

The victim's cry “Ramu is stabbing me!” heard by neighbours during the attack was admitted as res gestae under s.4 BSA.

In Indian law

• Section 4, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (old s.6 Evidence Act)
• R. v. Bedingfield (English, 1879): statement made after the act was over excluded

See also

hearsay · relevant fact · fact in issue · dying declaration

Read more in the study notes

• 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)
• Facts which need not be proved, and oral evidence (sections 51 to 55) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Commencement, operation and repeal of statutes (Interpretation of Statutes and Principles of Legislation)
• Labour welfare, social security and the ILO (Labour and Industrial Law II)
• The OSH Code: objectives, scope and key definitions (Labour and Industrial Law II)