law: Indian Evidence Act, 1872 
  32. Cases in which statement of relevant fact by person
  
  who is dead or cannot be found, etc, is relevant 
  Statements, written or
  
  verbal, or relevant facts made by a person who is dead, or who cannot be found,
  
  or who has become incapable of giving evidence, or whose attendance cannot be
  
  procured without an amount of delay or expenses which, under the circumstances
  
  of the case, appears to the Court unreasonable, are themselves relevant facts
  
  in the following cases:-
  (1) When it relates to
  
  cause of death—When the statement is made by a person as to the cause of his
  
  death, or as to any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in
  
  his death, in cases in which the cause of that person’s death comes into question.
  Such statements are
  
  relevant whether the person who made them was or was not, at the time when they
  
  were made, under expectation of death, and whatever may be the nature of the
  
  proceeding in which the cause of his death comes into question.
  (2) Or is made in
  
  course of business – When the statement was made by such person in the ordinary
  
  course of business, and in particular when it consists of any entry or
  
  memorandum made by him in books kept in the ordinary course of business, or in
  
  the discharge of professional duty; or of an acknowledgement written or signed
  
  by him of the receipt of money, goods, securities or property of any kind; or
  
  of a document used in commerce written or signed by him; or of the date of a
  
  letter or other document usually dated, written or signed by him.
  (3) Or against
  
  interest of maker—When the statement is against the pecuniary for proprietary
  
  interest of the person making it or when, if true , it would expose him or
  
  would have exposed him to a criminal prosecution or to a suit for damages.
  (4) Or gives opinion
  
  as to public right or custom, or matters of general interests – when the
  
  statement gives the opinion of any such person, as to the existence of any
  
  public right or custom or matter of public or general interest, of the
  
  existence of which, if it existed, he would have been likely to be aware, and
  
  when such statement was made before any controversy as to such right, custom or
  
  matter had arisen.
  (5) Or relates to
  
  existence of relationship- When the statement relates to the existence of any
  
  relationship 22[by blood, marriage or, adoption] between persons as
  
  to whose relationship 22[ by blood, marriage or adoption ] the
  
  person making the statement had special means of knowledge, and when the
  
  statement was made before the question in dispute was raised.
  (6) Or is made in will
  
  or deed relating to family affairs—When the statement relates to the existence
  
  of any relationship 22[ by blood, marriage or adoption] between
  
  persons deceased, and is made in any will or deed relating to the affairs of
  
  the family to which any such deceased person belonged, or in any family
  
  pedigree, or upon any tombstone, family portrait or other thing on which such
  
  statements are usually made, and when such statement was made before the
  
  question in dispute was raised.
  (7) Or in document
  
  relating to transaction mentioned in section 13, clause (a) – When the
  
  statement is contained in any deed, will or other document which relates to any
  
  such transaction as is mentioned in section 13, clause (a).
  (8) Or is made by
  
  several persons and expresses feelings relevant to matter in question – When
  
  the statement was made by a number of persons, and expressed feelings or
  
  impressions on their part relevant to the matter in question.
  Illustrations
  (a) The question is,
  
  whether A was murdered by B, or
  A dies of injuries
  
  received in a transaction in the course of which she was ravished. The question
  
  is whether she was ravished by B; or
  The question is,
  
  whether A was killed by B under such circumstances that a suit would lie
  
  against B by A’ widow.
  Statements made by A
  
  as to the cause of his or her death, referring respectively to the murder, the
  
  rape and the actionable wrong consideration, are relevant facts.
  (b) The question is as
  
  to the date of A’s birth.
  An entry in the diary
  
  of a deceased surgeon, regularly kept in the course of business, stating that,
  
  on a given day, he attended A’s mother and delivered her of a son, is a
  
  relevant fact.
  (c) The question is,
  
  whether A was in Calcutta on a given day.
  A statement in the
  
  diary of a deceased solicitor, regularly kept in the course of business, that
  
  on a given day the solicitor attended A at a place mentioned, in Calcutta, for
  
  the purpose of conferring with him upon specified business, is a relevant fact.
  (d) The question is,
  
  whether a ship sailed from Bombay harbor on a given day.
  A letter written by a
  
  deceased member of a merchant's firm by which she was chartered, to their
  
  correspondents in London to whom the cargo was consigned, stating that the ship
  
  sailed on a given day from Bombay harbor, is a relevant fact.
  (e) The question is,
  
  whether rent was paid to A for certain land.
  A letter from A’s
  
  deceased agent to A, saying that he had received the rent on A’s account and
  
  held it at A’s orders is a relevant fact.
  (f) The question is,
  
  whether A and B were legally married.
  The statement of a
  
  deceased clergymen that he carried them under such circumstances that the
  
  celebration would be crime, is relevant.
  (g) The question is,
  
  whether A, a person who cannot be found, wrote a letter on a certain day. The
  
  fact that a letter written by him is dated on that day is relevant.
  (h) The question is,
  
  what was the cause of the wreck of a ship.
  A protest made by the
  
  Captain, whose attendance cannot be procured, is a relevant fact.
  (i) The question is,
  
  whether a given road is a public way.
  A statement by A,
  
  deceased headman of the village, that the road was public, is a relevant fact.
  (j) The question is, what
  
  was the price of grain on a certain day in a particular market.
  A statement of a
  
  price, made by deceased banya in the ordinary course of his business is a
  
  relevant fact.
  (k) The question is,
  
  whether A, who is dead, was the father of B.
  A statement by A that
  
  B was his son, is a relevant fact.
  (l) The question is,
  
  what was the date of the birth of A.
  A letter from A’s
  
  deceased father to a friend, announcing the birth of A on a given day, is a
  
  relevant fact.
  (m) The question is,
  
  whether and when, A and B were married.
  An entry in a
  
  memorandum book by C, the deceased father of B, of his daughter’s marriage with
  
  A on a given date, is a relevant fact.
  (n) A sues B for libel
  
  expressed in a painted caricature exposed in a shop window. The question is as
  
  to the similarity of the caricature and its libelous character. The remarks of
  
  a crowd of spectators on these points may be proved.