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Law of evidence | Witness examination

Indecent and Scandalous Questions: Section 154 BSA and Section 151 Evidence Act

Indian evidence law empowers courts to control indecent or scandalous questions during witness examination, subject to an important exception for facts directly in issue or necessary to decide them.

Updated:

Current law: Section 154 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), effective from 1 July 2024, corresponds to former Section 151 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Section 170 of the BSA contains repeal and savings provisions for specified pending proceedings.

What does Section 154 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam provide?

Section 154, titled Indecent and scandalous questions, authorises the court to forbid questions or inquiries it considers indecent or scandalous, even if they have some bearing on the proceedings. However, the court cannot exclude such questions under this provision merely because of their indecent or scandalous character when they relate to facts in issue or matters necessary to determine whether those facts existed.

Statutory text of Section 154:

The Court may forbid any questions or inquiries which it regards as indecent or scandalous, although such questions or inquiries may have some bearing on the questions before the Court, unless they relate to facts in issue, or to matters necessary to be known in order to determine whether or not the facts in issue existed.

The corresponding former Section 151 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, stated substantially the same rule.

What is the exception for facts in issue?

A fact in issue is a fact from which, alone or with other facts, the existence, non-existence, nature or extent of a claimed or disputed right, liability or disability necessarily follows. Under the BSA, the expression is defined in Section 2(1)(g).

Section 154 distinguishes between an offensive inquiry that is merely peripheral and an inquiry needed to establish or disprove a material issue. A court must consider the actual issue in the case, the purpose of the question and whether the information is necessary to resolve that issue. The exception does not dispense with other rules governing admissibility, relevance, witness protection or the permissible form of questioning.

How does the court control indecent or scandalous questioning?

The court evaluates the question in its context rather than simply accepting an advocate's description of it. A question may be scandalous because it introduces an improper or damaging allegation; a question may be indecent because its subject or expression is offensive to accepted standards of courtroom propriety.

For example, a question about an unrelated intimate aspect of a witness's life may be forbidden if it has no necessary connection with the facts in issue. Conversely, where an otherwise sensitive matter is genuinely necessary to determine a disputed fact, Section 154's exception must be considered, alongside other statutory restrictions.

The provision therefore balances effective examination of witnesses with the dignity of judicial proceedings. It is not a blanket prohibition on every sensitive question, nor a general licence to ask intrusive questions.

Section 155 BSA: Questions intended to insult or annoy

Section 155 requires the court to forbid questions intended to insult or annoy, and questions that, although otherwise proper, are needlessly offensive in form. Unlike the discretionary wording of Section 154, Section 155 uses mandatory language.

Sections 151 to 153 BSA: Character-related questioning

Section 151 addresses the court's decision whether certain questions affecting a witness's credit should be asked or answered. Section 152 requires reasonable grounds for specified imputations, while Section 153 provides for reporting an advocate who asks such questions without reasonable grounds.

Section 149 BSA: Questions lawful in cross-examination

Section 149 addresses permissible questions in cross-examination and includes a specific restriction on using a victim's general immoral character or previous sexual experience to prove consent or its quality in prosecutions for specified sexual offences. That safeguard must be read alongside Sections 154 and 155.

Section 151 of the Indian Evidence Act: Repeal and savings

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872, was repealed by Section 170 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, which came into force on 1 July 2024. Under the savings provision, applications, trials, inquiries, investigations, proceedings or appeals pending immediately before commencement are to be dealt with under the former Act as if the BSA had not come into force. The governing law in a particular matter therefore depends on the statutory transitional rules and procedural posture.

Older judgments and legal materials referring to Section 151 of the Indian Evidence Act remain useful when interpreting the corresponding rule, subject to the applicable law and context.

Official legislation and further reading

Legal information only. The application of these provisions depends on the facts, procedural stage and applicable statutory safeguards.