Lok Sabha passes Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a Bill to replace a British-era legislation with the objective of including digital and virtual records as admissible evidence in the court of law in sync with the digital dependence of the banking system.

As soon as the House reassembled at 2 pm after an earlier adjournment, the opposition members continued with their sloganeering, refusing to heed the pleas of the Chair to discuss the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026. The Bill was moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for consideration and passage amid din. The Bill seeks to provide for law relating to evidence with respect to bankers’ books and to align it with contemporary digital banking practices and for matters connected with that.

As the disruptions continued, the Bill was put to vote without a debate and was passed by a voice vote.

The Bill was introduced by the finance minister in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The new law, to be called the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 2026, will replace the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891. “With the advancement of technology and growth of digital banking, bank records are increasingly created, stored and maintained using contemporary technology (instead of physical record). It has, therefore, become necessary to modernise and strengthen the existing legal framework to meet the requirements of the present banking system,” the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill said.

The Bill proposes to expand the scope of the definition of ‘’bankers’ books’’ to include all forms of records maintained by banks, whether in physical, electronic, digital, virtual, cloud-based or in any other form, thereby providing a comprehensive, technology-neutral and future-ready legal framework, it said.

It proposes to provide for standardised certificate formats and authentication by manual or digital or electronic signature and to expressly recognise admissibility of electronic bank records and permit their production in either physical or electronic form.

It is also going to empower the central government to extend applicability of the proposed legislation to any entity or class of entities operating in the financial sector, subject to certain conditions, it said. The Bill seeks to define the expression “special cause’’, for which a court may, by order in writing, compel an officer of the bank to produce any bankers’ books or to appear as witness to prove matters, transactions or accounts, in any legal proceeding where the bank is not a party.

The Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 was enacted during the pre-independence era to facilitate the use of certified copies of bank records as evidence in legal proceedings without requiring the production of the original records.

It was enacted at a time when banking records were predominantly maintained in physical form.