Section 63 BSA Certificate (Old 65B): Format, Part A & B, Hash Value

If you are relying on an electronic record as secondary evidence, file a Section 63(4) BSA certificate with it, at each instance you submit it for admission. The certificate identifies the record, describes how it was produced, gives the particulars of the device, and deals with the conditions in Section 63(2). It is signed by the person in charge of the device or the relevant activity (Part A) and by an expert (Part B).

The old number still matters: Section 63 is the near-identical successor of Section 65B, so the case law on 65B certificates (Anvar P.V., Arjun Panditrao Khotkar) remains the starting point for arguments about when a certificate is mandatory.

Part A is signed by the person who had lawful control of the device or the activity. In practice it records:

• Who you are and your relationship to the device (owner, employee in charge, account holder).
• The device: make, model, serial number or IMEI, and whether it is a standalone device, part of a network, or a record held by an intermediary (for example a WhatsApp or email account).
• How the output was produced: screenshot, export, copy to a pen drive, print, and on what date.
• That the device was operating properly during the relevant period, or that any fault did not affect the record.
• The hash value of the record, and the algorithm used (SHA-256 is the usual choice).

Part B is the expert’s confirmation of the same record and its hash value. On 22 May 2026, in Pune Bar Association v. Union of India (2026 SCC OnLine SC 1297), a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld Section 63(4), described the hash value as an electronic fingerprint, and held that Part B is not confined to examiners notified under Section 79A of the IT Act: a person with special skill in computer science or cyber forensics may be treated as an expert if the court is satisfied.

That makes Part B easier to obtain than it was under the narrower reading some courts had taken, but the expert still has to verify the hash independently — not simply countersign Part A.

A hash is a fixed-length fingerprint calculated from the file. Change one pixel or one character and the SHA-256 hash changes completely. If the hash in your certificate matches the hash of the file the court receives, the court knows it is looking at the same record you certified — that is the whole point of Part A and Part B naming it.

Calculate the hash on the exact file you will file (the exported chat, the original video, the PDF printout), keep that file unchanged, and quote the full 64-character SHA-256 value in both parts of the certificate.

1. Export or copy the record without editing it (for chats, use the app’s own export; for CCTV, copy the original file, not a screen recording).
2. Generate its SHA-256 hash. EvidenceHash does this in your browser — the file is not uploaded.
3. Fill Part A with the device particulars, how the output was produced, and the hash.
4. Have the expert verify the hash on the same file and sign Part B.
5. File the certificate with the record each time you tender it, and keep the original device or file available.