ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE IN CIVIL PROCEEDINGS IN INDIA
Authors: Koshelev Anton , Rusakova Ekaterina 
Published: November 2020

A significant leap in the development of information technology over the past twenty years has made the global legal community respond to new challenges that have come along with the progress in the digital environment. Together with the convenience of using electronic resources, society has developed a need for a simple and understandable legislative regulation of legal relations arising from the use of computer information technologies and various products of electronic digital activity in order to protect their interests potentially. The concept and types of electronic evidence in civil proceedings in different countries have different meanings. Meanwhile, the regulations of their procedural admissibility and applicability differ. The common thing is the tendency towards an increase in the use of electronic information carriers in court proceedings, increasing importance for establishing specific facts, and the decisive evidentiary role in making decisions by the court. India became one of the first countries to realize the growing level of implementation of Internet technologies, electronic digital storage media, and computer dominance in society and the state's daily life [1] (Artemyeva, Y.A. et al.). The consequence of this understanding was the timely development and implementation of the substantive and procedural bases in evidence law for practical, understandable, and convenient use of electronic evidence in civil proceedings. The article examines the types and procedural status of electronic evidence and analyzes the current legislation and law enforcement practice in the admissibility and application of electronic evidence in civil proceedings in India. The study identifies the existing system of electronic evidence in the legal field of India, the determination of the advantages and disadvantages in the gathering, presentation, research, and evaluation of electronic evidence by the court in civil proceedings, as well as the identification of the procedural order for their provision. The researchers have identified the following tasks to achieve the goals: • to define and research the legislation of India governing the concept, types and procedural order of applicability and admissibility of electronic evidence in civil proceedings in India; • to develop a particular procedural order for the effective use of the institution of electronic evidence in civil litigation in India; • to identify the current trends in the gathering, presentation, research, and evaluation of electronic evidence in India's courts, based on the established judicial practice study. The research methodology is based on general theoretical and scientific methods of cognition, including abstraction and specification, analysis and synthesis, modeling and comparison, and systemic, logical, and functional analyzes. The scientific novelty of the research consists of a comprehensive study of the instruments of legal regulation of the institution of electronic evidence in India's legal field, including regulatory legal acts and judicial precedents, and a consideration of the possibility of applying Indian approaches in the jurisdictions of other countries. The analysis of legislation and jurisprudence regarding electronic evidence in India's civil proceedings was carried out using the synergistic principle of object study, statistical-sequential analysis, and empirical research method. This study's results can be used in lawmaking to develop and improve regulations regarding the procedural status and use of electronic evidence in civil litigation in any country. The reference, citation, and use of this article's conclusions and materials are permissible when conducting lectures and seminars on civil procedure and private international law, research activities, law enforcement practice, and teaching.