The use of Satellite Data as Evidence

Satellite imagery is an increasingly effective source of actionable information and potential evidence. While satellite-collected/monitored data is already used extensively for administrative purposes, e.g. to update land records (via the ​‘Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme’ or to track forest fires (via the publicly accessible ​‘Van-Agni Geo-Portal’), its admissibility as evidence continues to vary based on several factors. 

Under the Indian law of evidence, satellite-collected/monitored data qualifies as ​‘electronic evidence’ when downloaded from ground stations in electronic format — a position affirmed by the Karnataka High Court when allowing an investigation into alleged forest encroachments based on government-generated satellite imagery (see M/​s V.S. Lad & Sons v. State of Karnataka, Karnataka High Court 2009). Under Section 63 of the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (“BSA”) (previously, Section 65B Indian Evidence Act 1872), an electronic record is admissible as evidence if generated from a computer system ​‘used regularly’ and ​‘operating properly’ and if the electronic record ​‘reproduces’ data that is ​‘fed into the computer system’ in the ​‘ordinary course’. Further, statutorily, such electronic records/​data require certification by an accredited third party, confirming compliance with the prescribed statutory conditions (see Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Gorantyal, Supreme Court 2020) although such certification has not been insisted on by Indian courts in the context of satellite-collected/monitored data so far.