BSA Section 9: When Facts Not Otherwise Relevant Become Relevant, Including the Plea of Alibi (Evidence Act 11 Mapping) (2026)

Explainer · Evidence Law · BSA

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

A fact that is not otherwise relevant can still become relevant under Section 9 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), the new evidence law in force since 1 July 2024. Section 9 replaced Section 11 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It is the home of the plea of alibi and the logic of narrowing down who could have done an act. If you still look up "section 11 Evidence Act", this is the provision you now need. Note that the plan heading mentioned a different topic; the true subject of Section 9 is when facts not otherwise relevant become relevant. This explainer sets out what Section 9 covers, how it works, and how it maps to the old law. Last verified October 2026.

01Why the section number matters now

Section 11 of the Indian Evidence Act was the broad "catch-all" relevancy section, and the textbook home of the plea of alibi. Since 1 July 2024 the Indian Evidence Act is replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), and this rule now sits in Section 9.

The number is a known trap, because the relevancy sections were renumbered. A reader may expect Section 9 of the BSA to be about facts that explain or introduce a relevant fact, which was Section 9 of the old Evidence Act. That topic is now Section 7 of the BSA. Section 9 of the BSA is the catch-all relevancy rule, the old Section 11. Read the number with care.

02What Section 9 covers

Section 9 of the BSA makes a fact relevant even if no other relevancy rule reaches it, in two situations:

• Inconsistency: the fact is inconsistent with any fact in issue or relevant fact.
• High probability: the fact, by itself or with other facts, makes the existence or non-existence of any fact in issue or relevant fact highly probable or improbable.

This is a wide, logic-based rule. It lets a court admit a fact whose only value is that it is inconsistent with the case, or that it strongly tips the probability one way. The classic illustration: if the question is whether A committed a crime in one city on a day, the fact that A was in a far-off place that day is relevant, because it makes it highly improbable that A was the person who did it.

03The plea of alibi

The most important use of Section 9 is the plea of alibi. "Alibi" means that the accused was somewhere else when the offence was committed, so could not have done it. The plea works through the second limb of Section 9: the fact of being elsewhere makes it highly improbable, or impossible, that the accused was at the scene.

Two settled points apply. First, the burden to prove an alibi is on the accused who sets it up, and it must be proved with cogency, because it is a fact within the special knowledge of the accused. Second, a weak or failed alibi does not convict by itself; the prosecution must still prove its own case. These rules were built under old Section 11 and continue under Section 9.

04A related but different section

It is easy to confuse Section 9 of the BSA with two neighbours, so keep them apart:

• Facts to explain or introduce a relevant fact: this was Section 9 of the old Evidence Act and is now Section 7 of the BSA. It covers facts that supply the background, fix time or place, or establish identity or relationship.
• When facts not otherwise relevant become relevant: this was Section 11 of the old Evidence Act and is now Section 9 of the BSA. It is the inconsistency and high-probability rule discussed here.

So if your point is that a fact explains or introduces another fact, you are in Section 7. If your point is that a fact is inconsistent with the case, or strongly shifts the odds, such as an alibi, you are in Section 9.

05Old to new: Evidence Act 11 to BSA 9

Section 11 of the Indian Evidence Act is now Section 9 of the BSA. The two-limb rule and its illustrations are carried over without real change.

The table shows the renumbering that causes confusion. The old Section 9 and old Section 11 both exist in the BSA, but as Section 7 and Section 9. Their subjects stayed the same.

06Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

An alibi stands or falls on how judges have weighed the probability test in earlier matters, so the real work is finding the precedent that fits your facts. Across a library of 30 crore+ judgments, Claw lets you pull how a bench has read Section 9 and the old Section 11 on being elsewhere, and the hunt returns in under 5 seconds. When your own alibi matter is live, you can follow its cases, orders and hearings by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums. Supreme Court rulings reach back to 1950 and High Court rulings to 1990, so even an old alibi authority is within reach.

Your case files stay yours: Claw does not use customer documents to train its AI models. Open a free Claw account and start tracing alibi precedents, or watching your own matter, by party or advocate name. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

07Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BSA, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• PRS Legislative Research (BSA overview and Evidence Act comparison): prsindia.org
• Section 9, BSA (bare text): devgan.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

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