Law and You >Procedural Laws > Indian Evidence Act, 1872 > Facts Which are Occasions, Cause, Effect or Opportunity (S. 7 IEA)
Section 6 and the succeeding sections of the Act embody the rule of admission of evidence relating to what is commonly known as res gestae. As a matter of fact, the rule of res gestae formulated in section 6 is expounded and illustrated in sections 7, 8, 9 and 14 of the Act and they should be read together. Relevancy has been described in section 6 to 11 and Sir James Stephen says that sections 6 to 11 “are by far the most important and original part of the Act as they affirm positively what facts may be proved. Section 6 makes the constituent incidents of a transaction relevant, if a part of the transaction is a fact in issue. These constituent incidents may be acts, declarations or other facts accompanying or explaining the transaction. In this article, we shall look into Section 7 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 which deals with facts which are occasions, cause, effect or opportunity
Section 7 IEA:
Facts which are the occasion, cause, or effect, immediate or otherwise, of relevant facts, or facts in issue, or which constitute the state of things under which they happened, or which afforded an opportunity for their occurrence or transaction, are relevant.
Illustrations:
(a) The question is, whether A robbed B. The facts that, shortly before the robbery, B went to a fair with money in his possession, and that he showed it or mentioned the fact that he had it, to third persons, are relevant.
(b) The question is, whether A murdered B. Marks on the ground, produced by a struggle at or near the place where the murder was committed, are relevant facts.
(c) The question is, whether A poisoned B. The state of B’s health before the symptoms ascribed to poison, and habits of B, known to A, which afforded an opportunity for the administration of poison, are the relevant facts.
Thus, the section thus provides for the relevancy of the following kinds of facts:
- Facts constituting the “Occasion”
- Facts which show the “Cause”
- The “effects” of the principal facts;
- Facts which provide the “opportunity” for the happening of the principal fact, and
- Facts which constitute the “state of things” under which the principal facts happened.
Occasion refers to the circumstances or events that surround a particular incident. In legal contexts, it could be the setting or context in which a relevant fact occurred.
Evidence can be given of fact, which constitute the occasion of happening of fact in-issue under Section 7. Similarly, facts which constitute the State of things under which they happened or which afforded an opportunity for their occurrence or transaction, are also relevant under this Section. Section 7 embraces larger area than Section 6. Section 7 provides for admission of several facts which though do not possibly form part of same transaction, are yet attached with principal transaction in any of above stated modes.
A raped and murdered B. While leaving the dead body of B, A took all the ornaments from the dead body of B. immediately after leaving the dead body of B, A approached C the gold smith in the village and told him that he had gold with him and want to sell it to C and also enquired about rate of gold that day. We can see that statements by A to C are not admissible under Section 6 of the Act but are admissible under Section 7 of the Act.
Everything surrounding the question can also be relevant to the case. These aspects, as defined under Section 7, include: Occasion, cause and effect, opportunity, and state of things.
In Jaunand (Dr) v. R case, where the accused took mony from deceased and on the day of offence the deceased went to the accused to ask for the return of money. It was held that those facts are relevant showing the occasion, cause or effect of the fact in issue.
Occasion:
In the Indian Evidence Act, the concept of “occasion” is not explicitly defined, but various provisions of the Act recognize the significance of the circumstances or events surrounding a particular incident. The importance of the occasion as evidence in the Indian Evidence Act can be understood through several provisions.
In context with Section 7 of the Act, occasion means to cause or provide the circumstances for the occurrence. In illustration (a) , shortly before the robbery, B went to a fair with money in his possession, and that he showed it or mentioned the fact that he had it, to third persons. This is the occasion. There is a possibility that A has seen that B is showing money to third person or the third person might have informed A that B is going to fair with money. It creates occasion or circumstances for the robbery. Thus, if a man claims that he was robbed of money on the occasion of a certain fair, he should be able to show that he had money with him, for otherwise, there would be no occasion to rob him. The fact that on the way he told one of his friends that he was going to the fair with the money would be relevant as this shows that he did have money with him.
- Example1: A is accused of B’s murder, and A denies any such act. C saw A with B on the day of the murder. Here, the question of whether A had committed murder or not is a “fact in issue” and the fact that C saw A on the day of murder with B will be the “relevant fact”. This information creates occasion or circumstances for the crime. Hence, the fact that C saw A on the day of murder with B is admissible under Section 7.
- Example 2: A was killed by B. A refused to have sex with B on his offer. A was alone at home at the time of her murder (being the occasion) and her refusal on B’s offer being the cause.
In R v. Richardson (1758, Wills pp 225-29) case, where a person was charged with the rape and murder of a girl, the fact that the girl was alone in her cottage at the time of her murder is relevant because it provided the occasion in which the crime happened.
Cause:
“Cause” explains as to why a particular act was done. It helps the Court to connect a person with the act. The act in question must have been done by the person who had the cause for it. It, for example, a person is running short of money, that may “cause” him to take a loan. And if he denies the fact of the circumstances which became the cause of the loan.
In Indian Airlines v. Madhuri Chowdhari, AIR 1965 Cal 252 case, the Calcutta High Court held that the report of an enquiry commission relating to an air crash is relevant under section 7 as establishment the “cause” of the accident.
Effects:
An effect is the ultimate result of an act being done. It not only keeps the records of the acts being done but also provides records for the nature of acts so done. The concept of cause and effect will bring within the reach of this Section a lot of facts that are relatable to each other on the basis of logic and induction. This may include footprints or fingerprints on the crime scene or other such evidence which is left or stays after the concerned incident. Every act leaves behind certain effects, which not only record the happening of the act, but also throw light upon the nature of the act. Illustration (b) attached to Section 7 explains this concept.
- Example 1: A was killed by B. A refused to have sex with B on his offer. A was alone at home at the time of her murder (being the occasion) and her refusal on B’s offer being the cause. The effect being A was killed.
- Example 2: A dead body is found on railway track, it can be inferred that the death of the person took place due to running over the person by the train. If no blood stains are seen nearby, then we can infer that the person was killed somewhere else and his body is thrown on the railway track to create misleading impression that the person was run over by the train.
In R. v. Richardson (1758, Wills pp 225-29) case, where a young girl was killed in her cottage, the prints of the footsteps showed that they were those of a person who must have worn shoes, the soles of which had been newly mended and which had iron knobs or nail in them. This was one of the “effects” of facts in issue. The fact that the accused Richardon’s shoes corresponded exactly with the foot impression in dimension, shape of the foot, form of the sole and the number and position of the nails was relevant as it so surely established Richardon’s presence at the scene of the crime.
Opportunity:
The chance given to someone to commit an offence or carry out an act or omission is an opportunity. Illustration (c) attached to Section 7 explains this concept.
A was killed by B. A refused to have sex with B on his offer. A was alone at home at the time of her murder (being the occasion) and her refusal on B’s offer being the cause. The effect being A was killed. While B was alone at home was the opportunity.
In R v. Donellan, 1955 1 QB 388 case, Where, the deceased suffered from a trifling ailment, for which he occasionally took a laxative draught. The draught was usually served by his mother. The accused knew all this and also the time at which it was usually served. He accordingly replaced the bottled with a bottle containing the poison. The mother innocently administered poison to her son of which he died. The fact of the accused’s knowledge the deceased’s habit was held to be relevant as it afforded an “opportunity” to the accused.
State of Things:
State of things are the surrounding circumstances under which a certain act took place, for instance the health of the deceased, the relationship of the parties, etc.
A killed his wife B. Their relationship was not cordial and they constantly fought. Moreover, she was having an extra marital affair. These are the state of things which constitute relevant facts under this section.
In Ratten v. Queen, (1971) 3 WLR 930 case, where the accused was prosecuted for shooting down his wife and he took the defence of accident, the fact that the accused was unhappy with his wife and was carrying on an affair with another woman was held to be relevant as it constituted the state of things in which the principal fact, namely, the shooting down, happened.
Tape Recording:
In Yusuf Alli Esmail Nagree v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1968 SC 147 case, the Supreme Court observed that, like a photograph of a relevant incident, a contemporaneous tape record of a relevant conversation is a relevant fact admissible under section 7 and 8. The imprint on the magnetic tape is the direct effect of the relevant sources. Thus, if a statement is relevant, an accurate tape record of the statement is also relevant and admissible.
Conclusion:
Section 7 embraces larger area than Section 6. Section 7 provides for admission of several facts which though do not possibly form part of same transaction, are yet attached with principal transaction in any of above stated modes. The opportunity rule laid down under Section 7 is that the inference drawn from the opportunity is strong one. Its evidentiary value is that it prevents accused from denying his presence at the scene of the offence at that particular period. It is important to prove that the accused was there at the exact time and place.
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