Report No. 185

Section 83

This section deals with 'presumption as to maps or plans made by authority of Government'. It reads as follows:

"83: The Court shall presume that maps or plans purporting to be made by the authority of the Central Government or any State Government were so made, and are accurate; but maps or plans made for the purposes of any cause must be proved to be accurate."

In the 69th Report, it was pointed out Section 86 of the Act speaks of relevancy of maps.

The words 'maps made for the purposes of any cause' are rather vague but they mean, 'maps made for the purposes of any particular cause' and in that event, the section does not apply. We would consider amending the last part of Section 83 by adding the words 'particular' before the word 'cause'.

In addition, we accept the 69th Report that apart from 'maps or plans', 'charts' should also be covered by the presumption under Section 83.

The revised Section 83, as proposed would read as follows:

"83. Presumption as to maps, charts or plans made by authority of government. .- The Court shall presume that maps or plans or charts purporting to be made by the authorities of the Central Government or any State Government were so made and are accurate; but maps or plans or charts made for the purpose of any particular cause must be proved to be accurate."