# Finance Ministry Bill Brings Cloud Bank Records Into Court Evidence 2026-08-07T06:10:52+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Finance Ministry introduced the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026, in Parliament on July 28. It seeks to repeal and replace the 1891 law, recognising bank records stored electronically, digitally, offsite or in the cloud, including backup and disaster recovery locations. The bill would allow such records to be admitted as evidence in court, subject to safeguards on security, accuracy, authorised access and data transfer. The proposed law retains a provision allowing a police officer of at least Superintendent rank to compel banks to provide records during certain criminal investigations without prior judicial approval. Medianama reports that this gives such police orders the same legal effect as court orders for producing, inspecting or copying bank records. The bill would also treat interconnected computer systems as one system for evidentiary purposes. ## Coverage - medianama.com Tags: banking law, Cloud data, Digital evidence, Finance Ministry, police powers Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/finance-ministry-bill-brings-cloud-bank-records-into-court-evidence/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/finance-ministry-bill-brings-cloud-bank-records-into-court-evidence/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.