The various presumptions are further described in Section 4 of the Indian Evidence Act. Under this provision, the terms “presumptions of fact” and “presumptions of law” are used differently.

“May presume” means that the Court may regard the fact as proved unless and until it is disproved, or may call for proof of it.

“Shall presume” means that the Court shall regard such a fact as proved,unless and until it is disproved

“Conclusive proof” implies that, when one fact is defined by this Act as conclusive proof of another, the Court shall, upon proof of the one fact, treat the other as proved and shall not permitevidence to be presented with the intent to refute it.

“An inference that either confirms or disputes a questionable fact or statement is known as a presumption. According to Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, until and unless the truth and validity of such inference is disproved, courts and judges must infer a certain conclusion based on the evidence that has been offered to the court. A supposition derived from one fact may offer support in terms of another pertinent fact. To sum up, a presumption is an inference of fact that is based on other established or known facts. As a result, a guy may be assumed to be a thief if he is discovered in possession of goods immediately after a theft.

Section 114 of the Act lays down that the Court may presume the existence of any fact which it thinks likely to have happened, regard being had to the common course of (a) natural events, (b) human conduct, and (c) public and private business, in their relation to the facts of the particular case.

Kinds of Presumptions:

The Indian legal system has adopted a third classification to avoid any ambiguity in deciding any case. The traditional approach of the Common Law system only classified presumption under two categories, namely presumption of law and presumption of facts.Specifically, mixed presumptions, which take into account both the law and the facts.

Presumption of Facts: Inferences that are “naturally” and “reasonably” drawn based on observations and conditions in the “course of basic human conduct” are referred to as “presumptions of facts.” These are also referred to as “natural or material assumptions” or “presumptions.”

Presumption of Law: According to the law itself, presumptions of law are those inferences and ideas that are established or assumed. Rebuttable presumptions of law and irrefutable presumptions of law are two more divisions that can be made.

Mixed Presumptions (Presumption of Fact and Law Both): “When the court, in its inferences, uses a blend that is composed of different presumption classifications, i.e., Presumption of Facts and Presumption of Law, the presumption is considered to be a Mixed Presumption.” Only the English legal system, which expressly deals with the statute of real property, reflects the ideas of such presumptions. However, the ideas of presumptions are expressly stated in the Indian legal system, and the Indian Evidence Act deals with such principles.

Difference between Presumption of fact and presumption of law