The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026, paving the way for replacing the colonial-era Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891, with a modern legal framework aligned with the country’s increasingly digital banking system.
The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill on August 5. With its passage by both Houses of Parliament, the legislation seeks to update the legal framework governing the use of bankers’ books and records as evidence in judicial proceedings.
The Bill retains most of the provisions of the existing law, under which certified copies of bank records can be produced as evidence in legal proceedings without requiring the original records.
A key provision of the new legislation is the explicit recognition of electronic and digital records of bankers’ books as admissible, valid and legally enforceable evidence, subject to specified safeguards.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Bill provides for a technology-neutral legal framework for bankers’ books and recognises electronic and digital banking records.
Under the proposed framework, an electronic or digital copy would be admissible if it is a true copy of the relevant entry or information and accurately represents or is appropriately derived from the original record.
The Bill also requires safeguards to ensure the integrity of electronic records. No unauthorised alteration of data should have occurred, while there should be no tampering with the system or any other event that could undermine the integrity and accuracy of the record.
The legislation retains provisions governing the production of bankers’ books in legal proceedings.
Under the existing framework, a bank officer cannot ordinarily be compelled to produce a banker’s book in a proceeding to which the bank is not a party, or to appear as a witness to prove matters, transactions or accounts recorded in such books. However, a court or judge may order such production or appearance for a special cause.
The 2026 Bill specifies circumstances that may constitute such a special cause. These include situations where the accuracy or genuineness of an entry or information is in doubt, where an event indicates an interruption in the regular process of maintaining records, or where a bank fails to comply with a court order relating to inspection of its books.
Sitharaman said the legislation would also strengthen statutory protection available to bank officers when the bank is not a party to the proceedings.
The Finance Minister said the new framework was necessary in view of India’s rapid digitisation, with banking and financial transactions increasingly being carried out electronically.
Another provision enables the Centre to extend the application of the proposed law to other entities or classes of entities operating in the financial sector through a notification. The government may prescribe conditions, exceptions or modifications while extending the provisions to such entities.
The Bill currently applies to entities engaged in banking business as well as post office savings banks and money order offices. It retains the scope of the existing legislation while providing flexibility to cover other financial-sector entities in the future.
-ANI
