Digital Evidence

Digital evidence or electronic evidence is any probative information stored or

transmitted in digital form that a party to a court case may use at trial.
The use of digital evidence has increased in the past few decades as courts
have allowed the use of e-mails, digital photographs, ATM transaction logs,
word processing documents, instant message histories, files saved from
accounting programs, spreadsheets, internet browser histories, databases, the
contents of computer memory, computer backups, computer printouts, Global
Positioning System tracks, logs from a hotel’s electronic door locks, and digital
video or audio files.

It is more than three years since law was passed in India to recognize
electronic documents as admissible evidence in a Court of law. The necessary
amendments were made to the Indian Evidence Act 1872 by the Information
Technology Act 2000.
In the case of electronic documents produced as "Primary Evidence", the
document itself must be produced to the Court. However, such electronic
document obviously has to be carried on a media and can be read only with the
assistance of an appropriate Computer with appropriate operating software and
application software. In many cases even in non-electronic
documents, a document may be in a language other than the language of the Court
in which case it needs to be translated and submitted for the understanding of the
Court by an Expert.In the case of the Electronic documents, under the
same analogy, "Presentation" of document is the responsibility of the prosecution
or the person making use of the document in support of his contention before the
Court. Based on his "Reading" of the documents, he submits his case. This may
however be disputed by the counter party. In such a case, it becomes necessary for
the Court to "Get the document Read by an expert" to its satisfaction. It is
necessary to have some clarity on the legal aspects of such documents presented
to the Court because most of the court battles are expected to revolve around
"Proper Reading’of the documents and "Possible manipulation of the documents”.
In making presentation of an "Electronic Document", the presenter may submit a
readable form of the document in the form of a "Print Out". Question arises in
such a case whether the print out is a "Primary Evidence" or a "Secondary
Evidence."