Which of the following do not constitute evidence within the meaning of Section 3 of the Evidence Act?

Solution

Evidence— “ Evidence” means and includes— (1) all statements which the Court permits or requires to be made before it by witnesses, in relation to matters of fact under inquiry, such statements are called oral evidence; (2) all documents including electronic records produced for the inspection of the Court, such documents are called documentary evidence. A Panchanama is a record of what the Panchs (Witness) see and the same can be proved only when the said Panchs stand in the witness box and testify on oath as to what they saw during the Panchanama. The main intention behind conducting Panchanama is to guard the case from unfair dealings on the Part of the Officers. The Panchanama can be used as a corroborative piece of evidence. It cannot be said to be a substantive piece of evidence, and hence relying only on the Panchanama in absence of any substantive evidence cannot attract conviction.