BSA Section 5: Facts Which Are the Occasion, Cause or Effect of Facts in Issue or Relevant Facts (Evidence Act 7 Mapping) (2026)
What Section 5 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) really does: it makes relevant the facts that are the occasion, cause or effect of a fact in issue or relevant fact, and it maps to the old Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act. Last verified October 2026.
Explainer · Evidence Law · BSA
Section 5 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), the new evidence law in force since 1 July 2024, makes relevant the facts that are the occasion, cause or effect of a fact in issue or a relevant fact. It replaced Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Watch the numbers carefully: the old "Section 7 IEA" is now BSA Section 5, and the old Section 5 IEA has moved to BSA Section 3. This explainer sets out what Section 5 really covers and how it maps to the old law. Last verified October 2026.
- New section: occasion, cause or effect is Section 5 of the BSA, in force since 1 July 2024.
- Old section: it replaced Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
- Watch the shift: the old Section 5 IEA (evidence of facts in issue and relevant facts) is now Section 3 of the BSA.
- Effect: it makes relevant the occasion, cause, effect, opportunity and state of things around a fact in issue.
01Clearing up the section number
The BSA renumbered the relevancy sections, and this one trips people up. The old Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act, occasion, cause and effect, is now Section 5 of the BSA. The old Section 5 of the Evidence Act, the general rule that evidence may be given of facts in issue and relevant facts, has moved to Section 3 of the BSA.
So if you carry the old numbers across, you land on the wrong rule. This page is about BSA Section 5, which is occasion, cause and effect.
02What Section 5 covers
Section 5 widens the net of what can be proved in a case. A fact is relevant if it is the occasion, cause or effect, immediate or otherwise, of a fact in issue or a relevant fact. It is also relevant if it is a state of things under which the fact happened, or if it gave an opportunity for the fact to occur.
In plain terms, the section lets a party prove:
- the occasion for an event (the setting in which it happened);
- the cause of an event;
- the effect of an event, such as marks or traces it left behind; and
- the opportunity or state of things that made the event possible.
A relevancy rule, not a crime
Section 5 is a rule of evidence. It tells a court what facts may be proved. It does not create any offence and carries no punishment. Its effect is to let in facts that explain how and why something happened.
03How it works, with examples
The illustrations to the section make it concrete:
- Effect (a struggle): where the question is whether A murdered B, marks on the ground produced by a struggle at or near the place of the killing are relevant as effects of the fact in issue.
- Occasion and opportunity (poisoning): where the question is whether A poisoned B, the state of B health before the symptoms, and B habits known to A that gave A an opportunity, are relevant.
- Occasion (robbery): where the question is whether A robbed B, facts that B went to a fair with money and showed it or mentioned it to others can be relevant as the occasion for the robbery.
These examples show the reach of the section: it is often how the surrounding circumstances of a crime, the lead-up and the aftermath, lawfully come before the court.
04Old to new: IEA 7 to BSA 5
Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act is now Section 5 of the BSA. The surrounding relevancy sections also shifted down by two, so it is worth seeing the group together.
| Rule | Old law (Evidence Act) | New law (BSA) |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence of facts in issue and relevant facts | Section 5 | Section 3 |
| Facts forming part of the same transaction | Section 6 | Section 4 |
| Occasion, cause or effect | Section 7 | Section 5 |
| Motive, preparation and conduct | Section 8 | Section 6 |
| Facts necessary to explain or introduce | Section 9 | Section 7 |
The next relevancy rule, facts necessary to explain or introduce a fact in issue, is now Section 7 of the BSA.
05Is it an offence? Classification
Section 5 does not create an offence, so there is no cognizable, bailable or triable label to apply to it, and it carries no punishment. It is a rule of relevancy in the law of evidence.
Relevancy rules decide what may be proved in a trial, civil or criminal. The question of cognizable or bailable belongs to the offence being tried, not to a section of the evidence law.
06What changed from the old law
For this rule, the change is essentially the number. The text follows Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act closely, so the long line of case law on occasion, cause and effect still guides how Section 5 of the BSA is read.
The practical lesson is to re-learn the numbers. Read Section 5 with the general relevancy rule now in Section 3, and with Section 7 of the BSA on facts that explain or introduce relevant facts.
07Where Claw fits
Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.
Relevancy under Section 5 is argued in trials and appeals every day, often over whether a circumstantial fact was rightly let in. Claw lets you see how courts have drawn that line, searching more than 30 crore judgments with results in under 5 seconds, and lets you track the orders and hearings of a live matter by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums. The record runs from Supreme Court decisions of 1950 and High Court decisions of 1990 onward.
Whatever you upload to research a matter stays private, Claw does not use it to train its AI models. Open a free Claw account to study how occasion, cause and effect have been applied, and to follow a live trial or appeal. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.
08Sources and further reading
- India Code (official text of the BSA, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
- Section 5, BSA (bare text): advocatekhoj.com
- Section 7, Indian Evidence Act (old provision): devgan.in
- Claw: clawlaw.in
This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.
09Frequently asked questions
What does Section 5 of the BSA cover?
Section 5 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 makes a fact relevant when it is the occasion, cause or effect of a fact in issue or relevant fact, or a state of things under which it happened, or something that gave an opportunity for it. It replaced Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Is BSA Section 5 the same as the old Section 5 of the Evidence Act?
No. The old Section 5 of the Evidence Act, which allowed evidence of facts in issue and relevant facts, is now Section 3 of the BSA. The old Section 7, occasion, cause and effect, is what became Section 5 of the BSA.
What is an example of a fact relevant under Section 5?
Marks on the ground from a struggle near the place of a killing are relevant as effects of the fact in issue. So is the victim health and habits in a poisoning case, which can show opportunity. These are the occasion, cause, effect and opportunity facts the section lets in.
Does old case law on Section 7 of the Evidence Act still apply?
In large part, yes. Because the text is carried over closely, judgments on Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act still guide how Section 5 of the BSA is read. The main change is the section number.
Is BSA Section 5 an offence section?
No. Section 5 is a rule of evidence and creates no offence. It carries no punishment, so cognizable or bailable labels do not apply to it. It only decides what facts may be proved in a trial.
Can I research how courts apply Section 5 in Claw?
Yes. Claw lets you search more than 30 crore judgments on occasion, cause and effect under Section 5 or the old Section 7, by provision, party or advocate, with results in under 5 seconds, and track orders and hearings across 9,102 courts, benches and forums. It researches and tracks the matter but does not give legal advice.