16. Valid Evidence

The Minor Law Books (SBE33), by Julius Jolly, [1889], at sacred-texts.com

16. Valid Evidence.

229. ²²⁹ Where there is conflicting evidence, the plurality of witnesses decides the matter. If the number of witnesses is equal (on both sides), the testimony of those must be accepted as correct,

p. 96

whose veracity is not liable to suspicion. If the number of such witnesses is equal (on both sides) (the testimony of these must be accepted), who are possessed of a superior memory.

Footnotes

95:229 Manu VIII, 73; Yâgñavalkya II, 78; Vishnu VIII, 39.

229, 230. Where witnesses endowed with a good memory are found on both sides in equal numbers, evidence based on recollection is incapable of influencing the decision of the suit. The witnesses must not be examined, and the above rule comes into force, that the witnesses become incompetent, because they do not agree with one another. A. See par. 261.