Nirali Biswal, B.A.LL.B., KIIT School of Law, Bhubaneswar, India
ABSTRACT
The new era of technology has transformed the way of collection of evidence, and presentation of the same in legal proceedings. The Information Technology Act 2000, also known as the Information Technology Act, came into effect in accordance with India's commitment to the “United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).” The mentioned act has revised the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 (hence referred to as the Evidence Act) to include provisions on electronic evidence, thereby legitimizing and promoting electronic commerce in the global platform.
Electronic evidence, including emails, social media posts, digital documents, and photographs, provides certain scope as well as challenges in the field of law. The current abstract discusses the “admissibility of electronic evidence” within the regulatory framework of Law of Evidence. Electronic evidence must be reliable, authentic, and relevant to get accepted by the legal authorities. To decide if such evidence is admissible, courts all over the world use a vast range of legal standards. They take their decisions basing upon the well-established concepts of law of evidence while coping with the rapidly developing digital technology. It is difficult to prove the authenticity of electronic evidence because electronic content can be easily tampered or altered. Courts are required to evaluate originality of the evidence, with the help of expert opinion, chain of custody, and other relevant information. Admissibility of electronic evidence is majorly impacted by privacy and data protection affairs, especially when it is a matter of sensitive or personal data. Legal frameworks must have a compromise between the preservation of rights of people with respect to secrecy and privacy, in the process of deliberation of justice.
Legal principles, technological upgradation and ethical problems must all be carefully looked upon while deciding whether electronic evidence is admissible or not. To maintain the equitable and efficient administration of justice in the digital age, legal authorities must be cautious in their adaptation
as digital technologies continue to progress.
Keywords: Electronic Evidence, Admissibility, Expert Opinion, Authenticity, IT Act
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