MeitY designated six new labs on July 9 to officially examine electronic evidence. This clarifies who can certify digital proof for courts, especially under the new Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. The move directly impacts how police and legal teams handle everything from WhatsApp chats to deepfakes.
How We Got Here
The Central Government used Section 79A of the IT Act, 2000, to appoint these official examiners. This comes as the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) now mandates a two-part certificate for admitting digital evidence.
The Numbers
- One lab, BSF Delhi's Central Drone Forensic Lab, will focus exclusively on drone forensics.
- Five other labs across Kolkata, Mumbai, Goa, New Delhi (Navy Cyber Group), and Jaipur will handle computer and mobile forensics.
- The BSA, 2023, requires a hash value ("digital fingerprint") for Part A of the evidence certificate, proving file integrity.
- The Supreme Court noted electronic fingerprinting through hashes is a necessary safeguard against deepfakes and AI-manipulated media.
What Happens Next
🇮🇳 Why This Matters for India
For law enforcement agencies and legal tech startups in Hyderabad and Chennai, this creates a standardized, verifiable process for digital evidence in civil and criminal proceedings.
The Take
The current legal gap around the "expert" signatory for BSA's Part B certificate is a ticking bomb for evidence challenges. MeitY or the judiciary will be forced to clarify this definition within the next 9-12 months, or cases will stall.
Source:
MediaNama ↗