Oath Act, 1873

The Oaths Act, 1873 sets out the law on how courts and other authorised persons administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses, interpreters, and others involved in legal proceedings. It replaced earlier, separate rules on judicial oaths and does not apply to courts martial or to oaths under presidential warrants (Section 3).

Section 4 lists who can administer oaths: courts and persons legally authorised to receive evidence, and commanding officers of military, naval, or air force stations, provided the oath is given within the limits of the station. Section 5 requires witnesses and interpreters to take an oath or affirmation, though Section 5 also carves out an exception for child witnesses under twelve who understand the duty to speak the truth but not the nature of an oath — their evidence is still admissible without one. An accused person cannot generally be sworn in a criminal case unless testifying as a defence witness.

Section 6 provides that a Muslim witness or interpreter must take an oath, while a non-Muslim may choose an oath or, if they object to swearing an oath, an affirmation instead. Section 7 says oaths and affirmations follow forms prescribed by the High Court. Sections 8 to 12 deal with a party offering to be bound by an oath taken by the opposing party or a witness: the court may tender such an oath, ask whether the other side agrees to it, and if agreed, the evidence given becomes conclusive proof against the person who offered to be bound; if the person refuses to take the oath, the court simply records the refusal and the circumstances.

Section 13 protects proceedings from being invalidated merely because an oath was omitted or irregularly administered — the underlying evidence remains admissible and the witness's duty to tell the truth is unaffected. Section 14 confirms every witness must tell the truth, and Section 16 abolishes the older requirement of taking an official oath before entering public office.

This is an 1873 law, and the extract shows it has been amended repeatedly — by the Indian Oaths (Amendment) Act 1919, various Adaptation Orders, and the Federal Laws (Revision and Declaration) Ordinance 1981, among others — so it is old and its precise current wording should be checked against the official gazette text rather than relied on from memory.