Any statement by any outside person can be used as an admission in a case.

This only applies when the case specifically depends on proving that outside person's own position or liability, and the statement must have been made while they held that position or liability.

This lets hearsay in freely.

It is a narrow, defined exception — the statement must be one that would itself count as a valid admission if that third person were sued directly.

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Section 17

Admissions by persons whose position must be proved as against party to suit

Statements made by persons whose position or liability, it is necessary to prove as against any party to the suit, are admissions, if such statements would be relevant as against such persons in relation to such position or liability in a suit brought by or against them, and if they are made whilst the person making them occupies such position or is subject to such liability. Illustration. A undertakes to collect rents for B. B sues A for not collecting rent due from C to B. A denies that rent was due from C to B. A statement by C that he owed B rent is an admission, and is a relevant fact as against A, if A denies that C did owe rent to B.§

Why this exists

Ordinarily, only statements made by an actual party to a case (or someone in their shoes, like an agent) count as 'admissions.' But some disputes hinge on facts about a third person's legal position — for example, whether a tenant owed rent, or a debtor owed money — where that third person isn't in court at all. This provision, carried forward from Section 18 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, into the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, allows such a third person's own statement about their position or liability to be treated as an admission against the party whose case depends on proving that very fact. The logic is that if the third person could have been sued directly and their statement would bind them, it is fair to let the same statement help settle the linked dispute in the actual suit.

Common misconceptions

Myth: Any statement by any outside person can be used as an admission in a case.
Fact: This only applies when the case specifically depends on proving that outside person's own position or liability, and the statement must have been made while they held that position or liability.
Myth: This lets hearsay in freely.
Fact: It is a narrow, defined exception — the statement must be one that would itself count as a valid admission if that third person were sued directly.