How to Get a 65B Certificate for WhatsApp (Sample Format)

If you want an Indian court to look at a WhatsApp chat, a printout alone is not enough. Electronic records presented as secondary evidence must be accompanied by a statutory certificate - historically under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and since 1 July 2024 under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA). Miss the certificate and the chat can be refused outright, no matter how damning its contents. This guide explains both regimes, what the certificate must contain, who signs it, and how the new hash requirement changes how you should prepare WhatsApp evidence.

The Short Answer

A WhatsApp chat produced in court as a printout or PDF is secondary electronic evidence. To be admissible it needs a certificate that identifies the electronic record, describes the device it came from, confirms the device was working properly, and is signed by a person in a responsible position in relation to that device. Under the BSA, the certificate must now also disclose a hash value of the electronic record, and the prescribed format contemplates certification by an expert in addition to the person in charge of the device. The Supreme Court settled in Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal (2020) that the certificate is mandatory for secondary electronic evidence - courts cannot simply waive it.

From Section 65B to Section 63 BSA: What Changed

Section 65B was inserted into the Evidence Act in 2000 alongside the Information Technology Act. It treated computer output - printouts, copies on media - as admissible without producing the original device, provided the conditions in Section 65B(2) were met and a certificate under Section 65B(4) accompanied the record. Two decades of conflicting judgments about whether the certificate was truly mandatory ended with Arjun Panditrao in 2020: a three-judge bench held the certificate is a condition precedent for admissibility of secondary electronic evidence, though it is unnecessary if the original device itself is produced.

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaced the Evidence Act on 1 July 2024. Section 63 BSA carries the 65B framework forward with meaningful upgrades.

• Communication devices are expressly covered - smartphones are now named in the statute rather than shoehorned into 'computer'.
• The certificate under Section 63(4) must be given 'in each instance' the record is produced, and the prescribed Schedule format requires disclosure of a hash value of the electronic record.
• The Schedule contemplates two signatories: the person in charge of the device or management of relevant activities, and an expert - a dual certification that did not exist under 65B(4).
• Records stored across multiple devices or networks (cloud storage, a chat synced across phone and computer) are explicitly within scope.

Practically: if your matter is governed by the BSA, plan for a certificate that names a hash value. That makes generating a cryptographic hash of your WhatsApp evidence at the moment you prepare it not just good practice but the path of least resistance to compliance.

What the Certificate Must Contain

Whether framed under Section 65B(4) or Section 63(4), a certificate for a WhatsApp chat covers the same core ground. Described field by field, it should:

• Identify the electronic record precisely - the chat between which numbers, the date range, and the output produced (for example, a PDF of 214 pages generated from the WhatsApp export file).
• Describe how the record was produced - the export was generated by WhatsApp's built-in Export Chat function on a named device, then converted to PDF, stating the tool and date.
• Identify the device - make, model, and phone number of the handset the chat was exported from, and that the deponent had lawful control of it.
• State the working-condition conditions - during the relevant period the device was operating properly, the information was fed into it in the ordinary course of the relevant activities, and any downtime did not affect the accuracy of the record.
• Disclose the hash value (BSA) - the algorithm (SHA-256 is standard practice) and the computed value for the record being certified.
• Be signed by the responsible person - for a personal phone, the owner of the device who performed the export; under the BSA Schedule, also by an expert where required.

How the Hash Requirement Meets WhatsApp Evidence

A hash is a fixed-length fingerprint computed from a file. Change one character in the file and the hash changes completely. The BSA's Schedule asks for a hash so the court can be confident the electronic record filed today is byte-for-byte the record examined tomorrow. For WhatsApp chats this solves a real problem: a .txt export can be edited in any text editor without a visible trace, and screenshots prove nothing about integrity. When you convert an export into a PDF that carries a SHA-256 hash generated at conversion time, the certificate can quote that hash, and anyone - the judge, the opposing advocate, a forensic examiner - can recompute it later to confirm nothing changed. The hash does not prove who wrote the messages; it proves the record has not been tampered with since it was fixed. Authorship is established separately through testimony and circumstances.

How to Get a Section 65B (Section 63 BSA) Certificate for a WhatsApp Chat

There is no government office or authority that issues a Section 65B / Section 63 BSA certificate for you - it is a self-certification you prepare and sign yourself, as the person in a responsible position in relation to the device. For a WhatsApp chat on a personal phone, that person is normally the owner who performed the export. You get it in four steps:

1. Export the full WhatsApp chat from your own phone (open the chat, then Export Chat), and keep the original export file unedited.
2. Convert the export to a paginated PDF and generate a SHA-256 hash of that PDF.
3. Draft the certificate: identify the chat and device, confirm the device was working properly, and quote the hash value.
4. Sign it as the person responsible for the device and file the certificate together with the PDF.

Step 1 - Export the complete chat from your own device

On iPhone: open the chat, tap the contact or group name, scroll down, tap Export Chat, choose Attach Media if photos or voice notes are part of the evidence, and save via the share sheet to Files. On Android: open the chat, tap the three-dot menu, More, Export chat, choose with or without media, and save the .zip or .txt file. Export the whole conversation - selective extracts invite objections and, under the BSA's integrity focus, look worse than ever. Preserve the original export file unmodified.

Step 2 - Convert to a paginated PDF with a SHA-256 hash

Convert the export into a formatted, paginated PDF that reproduces the conversation with sender names and timestamps, and generate a SHA-256 hash over the output. Page numbering matters for the certificate ('a PDF of 214 pages') and for the courtroom, where counsel needs to direct the bench to specific pages. Note the hash value, the conversion date, and the tool used - all three go into the certificate.

Step 3 - Draft the certificate

Using the fields above, draft the certificate identifying the device, the export process, the working-condition statements, and the hash. The signatory should be the person who controls the phone and performed the export - typically the litigant. Where the BSA Schedule requires an expert's certification for your filing, your advocate will arrange one; forensic practitioners routinely certify hash computation and extraction procedure.

Step 4 - File certificate and record together

The certificate accompanies the electronic record when it is produced. Arjun Panditrao confirms the certificate can be directed to be produced at trial stage in appropriate cases, but the safe course is to file both together from the start. Keep the original phone available: if admissibility is fought hard, producing the device as primary evidence sidesteps the secondary-evidence certificate entirely.

Specimen Certificate You Can Adapt

Below is a specimen (fill-in-the-blank) certificate you can adapt for a WhatsApp chat produced under Section 63(4) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. It follows the two-part structure the BSA First Schedule contemplates: Part A, a self-declaration by the person in charge of the device (for a personal phone, the owner who performed the export), and Part B, a verification of the hash value by an expert where your filing requires it. Every bracketed blank is something you fill in; the wording is deliberately generic and educational so you can see how each mandatory element maps onto your facts. It is a starting template, not a finished document - as noted throughout this guide, an advocate should settle the final form before you file it, and the exact Schedule wording should be checked against the current BSA text.

CERTIFICATE UNDER SECTION 63(4) OF THE BHARATIYA SAKSHYA ADHINIYAM, 2023

In the matter of [CASE TITLE / PARTIES], [CASE NUMBER, IF ALLOTTED], before the [NAME OF COURT / TRIBUNAL], at [PLACE].

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PART A - CERTIFICATE BY THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF THE DEVICE
(self-declaration by the person in a responsible position in relation to the device)
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I, [FULL NAME], [AGE] years, [OCCUPATION], resident of [FULL ADDRESS], do hereby state and certify on solemn affirmation, to the best of my knowledge and belief, as follows:

1. IDENTITY AND CONTROL OF THE DEVICE
   I am the owner of, and at all material times had lawful control over, the mobile handset described below, from which the electronic record annexed to this certificate was produced:
   (a) Make and model: [MAKE / MODEL]
   (b) Operating system and version: [e.g. Android 14 / iOS 17]
   (c) Mobile number associated with the WhatsApp account: [YOUR PHONE NUMBER]
   (d) IMEI / device identifier, if available: [IMEI OR SERIAL NUMBER]

2. IDENTIFICATION OF THE ELECTRONIC RECORD
   The electronic record certified herein is a chat conversation on WhatsApp Messenger between the number [YOUR PHONE NUMBER] and [OTHER PARTY'S NAME / NUMBER, OR GROUP NAME], for the period from [START DATE] to [END DATE]. The output produced from that conversation is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file titled "[FILE NAME]", running into [NUMBER] pages, a printout of which is annexed hereto and marked [ANNEXURE / EXHIBIT MARKING].

3. MANNER OF PRODUCTION
   The said record was produced in the following manner: on [DATE OF EXPORT], using the built-in "Export Chat" function of WhatsApp Messenger [with media / without media] on the device described in paragraph 1, the said conversation was exported to a file. That exported file was thereafter converted, without any alteration to its contents, into the paginated PDF described in paragraph 2 on [DATE OF CONVERSION] using [NAME AND VERSION OF TOOL / SOFTWARE / SERVICE]. The original exported file has been preserved by me in an unedited state.

4. WORKING CONDITION OF THE DEVICE
   Throughout the said period [START DATE] to [END DATE], the device described in paragraph 1 was in my regular use and was operating properly. The information contained in the said record was fed into and stored on the device in the ordinary course of my regular use of WhatsApp Messenger. To the extent the device was at any time not operating, or not operating properly, such period did not affect the accuracy, completeness or integrity of the electronic record certified herein.

5. HASH VALUE
   A hash value of the said PDF was computed using the [SHA-256] algorithm at the time of its production. The hash value so computed is:
   [SHA-256 HASH VALUE]
   The same hash value may be recomputed by any person over the annexed record to verify that it has not been altered since certification.

6. I make this certificate in my capacity as a person occupying a responsible position in relation to the device from which the record was produced. The statements above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: __________________________
Name: [FULL NAME]
Date: [DATE]        Place: [PLACE]

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PART B - CERTIFICATE BY THE EXPERT
(verification of the hash value, where required for your filing)
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I, [EXPERT'S FULL NAME], [DESIGNATION / QUALIFICATION, e.g. Cyber Forensic Examiner], of [ORGANISATION / ADDRESS], do hereby certify, to the best of my knowledge and belief, as follows:

1. I examined the electronic record described in Part A above, namely the PDF titled "[FILE NAME]" of [NUMBER] pages.

2. I independently computed a hash value over the said record using the [SHA-256] algorithm. The hash value computed by me is:
   [SHA-256 HASH VALUE]

3. The hash value stated by me matches the hash value disclosed in Part A, confirming that the record examined by me is identical to the record certified by the person in charge of the device.

4. [ADD ANY FURTHER STATEMENT ON THE EXTRACTION / CONVERSION PROCEDURE EXAMINED, IF APPLICABLE.]

Signature: __________________________
Name: [EXPERT'S FULL NAME]
Designation: [DESIGNATION]
Date: [DATE]        Place: [PLACE]

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Note: This is a specimen for adaptation, not legal advice. Verify the exact prescribed wording against the current text of the BSA First Schedule and have an advocate settle the final form before filing. Part B need only be completed where an expert's certification is called for in your matter.

For matters still governed by Section 65B(4) of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (proceedings arising before 1 July 2024), the certificate is simpler in shape: use Part A only. There is no Part B and no expert - Section 65B(4) is satisfied by a single signatory occupying a responsible position in relation to the device or the management of the relevant activities. Critically, there is no hash-value field in the 65B(4) format, so you would omit paragraph 5 of the specimen above. The substantive content is otherwise the same: identify the record, describe how it was produced, identify the device, and give the working-condition statements of Section 65B(2). Do not, however, bolt the old 65B(4) form onto a BSA-governed filing - a post-2024 certificate with no hash disclosure is an easy target for objection.

Common Mistakes That Sink WhatsApp Evidence in India

• Filing a printout with no certificate at all and hoping the court overlooks it - after Arjun Panditrao, it will not.
• Using a pre-2024 template with no hash disclosure in a BSA-governed matter.
• Certifying screenshots rather than a complete export - fragments raise both integrity and completeness objections.
• Having the wrong person sign - the certificate must come from someone with responsibility over the device, not the advocate's clerk.
• Editing the export before certification. Any cleanup, even deleting an irrelevant message, changes the record and the hash, and can be characterised as tampering.
• Losing the original device or export file. If integrity is contested, the phone and the untouched .zip are what a forensic examiner will want.

Key Takeaways

• Secondary WhatsApp evidence in India needs a statutory certificate - Section 65B for Evidence Act matters, Section 63(4) BSA since 1 July 2024.
• Arjun Panditrao (2020) made the certificate mandatory; producing the original device is the only workaround.
• The BSA Schedule adds a hash disclosure and contemplates expert co-certification.
• Export the full chat, convert it to a paginated PDF with a SHA-256 hash, and quote that hash in the certificate.
• Keep the original export and the phone; never edit the record.