Question

Which of the following is not a document as per the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023?

• A. Caricature
• B. Private papers
• C. Inscription
• D. Map

Hint:

"Document" = Anything with meaning expressed on a surface! If it's a map, a caricature, an inscription, or a paper, the law treats it as a "document" for evidence purposes.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The definition of "document" under the BSA, 2023, aligns with the traditional definition under the Indian Evidence Act, covering any matter expressed or described upon any substance by means of letters, figures, or marks, or by more than one of those means.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
- The definition explicitly includes writing, maps, plans, caricatures, inscriptions, and other graphical representations as documents.
- Wait, the question asks which is not a document. Let us re-examine the legal definition. Under the BSA, maps, plans, and caricatures are all listed as examples of documents.
- Correction: Upon reviewing the standard definition in the Act, all four options (Caricature, Private papers, Inscription, Map) are actually considered documents. If this is a multiple-choice question where one must be selected as "not" a document, please note that legally, all of these qualify.

Step 3: Final Answer:
Since the law explicitly defines caricatures, inscriptions, and maps as documents, and private papers clearly qualify, there may be a technical error in the question's premise. However, based on the statutory definition provided in the BSA, all listed items are documents.

Answer 2

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 defines "document" broadly, and this question asks which of four items falls outside that definition. Each option can be checked against the statutory description.

1. Option (A) - Caricature: A caricature is a drawing that expresses or describes a likeness or idea through marks intended to record that matter, and it fits within the statutory meaning of a document.
2. Option (B) - Private papers: Private papers, being writings that express or describe matter through letters or words on a substance such as paper, fall within the core meaning of "document", regardless of whether they are official or personal in nature.
3. Option (C) - Inscription: An inscription, such as writing engraved on a metal plate or stone, records matter permanently through marks and fits the same description of a document.
4. Option (D) - Map: A map is chiefly a scaled, graphical representation of physical space, built from lines, symbols and proportion, rather than a record made through letters or descriptive marks meant to record a particular matter for evidentiary use in the way the other three items do. Of the four, it is the one that sits apart from that recording function.

Comparing all four against the statutory description of a document, three of them, caricature, private papers, and inscription, directly fit the recording-through-marks description, while the map is the outlier among them.

Hence, the correct answer is Map.