Facts relevant: The Fact that on the way to the hearing of Tonya Rape Case, right outside the

courtroom, the father of the black girl, Carl Hailey, steps out of a closet and fires 3 shots. Two
shots kill the two white males and the other shot wounds the officer escorting the convicts in to
the courtroom.
Issue: Do they qualify to be fact within the meaning of section 3?
Facts include the factum probandum or the principle fact to be proved and the factum probans or
the evidentiary fact from which the principle fact follows immediately or by inference. Facts
may be either facts in issue which are the principal matters in dispute or relevant facts which
are evidentiary and which directly or by inference prove or disprove the facts in issue. 1 Mental
condition is a fact but any guess or calculation made by a person is not a fact.2
The distinction between facts in issue and relevant facts is of fundamental importance and must
be thoroughly comprehended in order to understand and appreciate the scheme of the Act. Sir
James Fitzjames Stephen, who framed the Act, in his Introduction to the Act thus defines facts in
issue:-"They may by themselves, or in connection with other facts, constitute such a state of
things that the existence of the disputed right or liability would be a legal inference from them.
From the fact that A is the eldest son of B, there arises of necessity the inference that A is, by the
law of England, the heir-at-law of B, and that he has such rights as that status involves. From the
fact that A caused the death of B under certain circumstances and with a certain intention or
knowledge there arises of necessity the inference that A murdered B, and is liable to the
punishment provided by law for murder. Facts thus related to a proceeding may be called facts in
issue unless their existence is undisputed.3
The definition of facts in issue in the Act is merely a paraphrase of Stephen's definition in the
Introduction. The substantive law of a country defines the rights and liabilities of its citizens in
the form of certain abstract propositions or formulae, and the object of every suit or other judicial
1 State v. Arisetty, AIR 1957 AP 130
2 Anant v. State, AIR 1967 Bom 109
3 Stephen's Introduction, p. 12

proceedings is to ascertain whether the right claimed, or the liability sought to be enforced by
one person against another, does or does not exist. A party to a litigation seeking to enforce a
right or a liability against his opponent, in order to obtain a verdict in his favor by a tribunal, has
to establish all such facts as go to constitute that right or liability. These "necessary constituents"
of a right or liability are called "facts in issue" if their existence is asserted by one party and is
denied by the' other. In, other words, every fact which a plaintiff must prove in order to get
adjudication in his favour, or which a defendant may prove in order to defeat the plaintiff's suit,
becomes a fact in issue, if the parties are not agreed as to its existence or non-existence.
Therefore the answer to the question what are the facts in issue in a particular case depends on
the rule of the substantive law which is applicable to the case and on that rule of procedure which
deals with the framing of issues of fact.4
In criminal cases there are no such facts as constitute the offence, their non-existence being
presumed. Hence all the 'ingredients' of the offence which is charged against the accused are
"facts in issue" in a criminal trial the substantive civil law of India has not yet been completely
codified. It is contained partly in some of the legislative enactment's, e.g., the Transfer of
Property Act and the Indian Contract Act partly in rules of Hindu and Mohammedan Laws, and
partly in rules of custom by which the parties are governed; and where there is no express
provision on the point in any of these, the Judge has to decide according to the dictates of justice,
equity and good conscience. Unlike the substantive civil law, the criminal substantive law of
India has been thoroughly codified in the Indian Penal Code and a number of "special" and
"local" Penal Statutes.
Relevant fact in the movie: On the way to the hearing of Tonya Rape Case, right outside the
courtroom, the father of the black girl, Carl Hailey, steps out of a closet and fires 3 shots from a
M16 assault rifle which was found at the crime scene. Two shots kill the two white males and the
other shot wounds the officer escorting the convicts in to the courtroom.

4 Stephen's, Article 1; Benth. Jud. Evidence, 40-44; Gulson, sections 256-257; Phipson
Evidence, 7th Edn., p. 110