DOCTRINE OF RES GESTAE : AN ANALYSIS

AUTHORS – SHAGUN TIWARI* & SARITA YADAV**, STUDENT* & ASSISTANT PROFESSOR** AT AMITY UNIVERSITY LUCKNOW CAMPUS

BEST CITATION – SHAGUN TIWARI & SARITA YADAV, DOCTRINE OF RES GESTAE : AN ANALYSIS, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (1) OF 2025, PG. 243-248, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

In any legal process, evidence can be provided either by oral evidence or by documentary evidence. Oral evidence means the statement of the witness and documentary evidence means the document submitted for review by the court in support of the application. The rule of best evidence laid down in the provision of the Bhartiya Saksya Adhiniyam is that the evidence must be that of the witness who claims to have full and complete knowledge of the fact in question. This provision is provided in section 55 of the law. This section prohibits the admission of evidence not directly related to the fact in question. The Bhartiya Saksya Adhiniyam also provides that hearsay evidence is not admissible, but section 4 is an exception to the hearsay rule. Section 4 provides that facts which are not in dispute may be relevant if they are part of the same transaction. The rule of the same transaction is provided by the English term res gestae. The facts to be proved must be different from the fact in question, but necessary to prove the fact in question. In any trial, not all evidence is admissible. Only facts that are related to the facts in question and relevant facts are admissible. Acceptability varies according to importance. All admissible facts are relevant, but not all relevant facts are admissible. According to the doctrine of res gestae, facts directly related to the facts in question that create a chain of circumstances are admissible only as evidence. In legal proceedings, only relevant facts are admissible. The law does not define what constitutes a relevant fact.  Keywords: Oral evidence, provision, admissible, res gestae, same transaction