Section 46 Evidence Act 2011
Section 46 Evidence Act 2011 is titled ‘Admissibility of certain evidence for proving, in subsequent proceeding, the truth of facts stated in it‘. It is under Part IV (HEARSAY, OPINION AND CHARACTER EVIDENCE: RELEVANCE AND ADMISSIBILITY) of the Act. It states as follows:
(1) Evidence given by a witness in a judicial proceeding, or before any person authorised by law to take it, is admissible for the purpose of proving in a subsequent judicial proceeding, or in a later stage of the same judicial proceeding the truth of the facts which it states, when the witness cannot be called for any of the reasons specified in section 39, or is kept out of the way by the adverse party:
Provided that –
a. the proceeding was between the same parties or their representatives in interest;
b. the adverse party in the first proceeding had the right and opportunity to cross – examine; and
c. the questions in issue were substantially the same in the first as in the second proceeding.
(2) A criminal trial or inquiry shall be deemed to be a proceeding between the prosecutor and the defendant within the meaning of this section.