P26, which corresponds to the earlier Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act. A CDR is precisely this kind of computer-generated record. The certificate exists to identify the system that produced the record and to attest, in the form the statute prescribes, that the record was regularly produced by a computer in proper working order. For a fuller treatment of the statutory form, see our guide to the Section 63 BSA 2023 electronic evidence certificate, and our Section 65B certificate format with an example. Attaching the certificate to a CDR is the difference between a stack of numbers and a record a court can properly receive.

Who Certifies the CDR

The statutory certificate is given by a person occupying a responsible official position in relation to the operation of the relevant device or the management of the relevant activities. For a CDR, that is typically the nodal officer or the person in charge of the telecom service provider's computer system that generated the record. That person is the one able to speak to how the CDR was produced and to sign the certificate the law requires. It is worth understanding this distinction early: the integrity tooling you run on the file is your own contribution to the evidence, but the statutory certificate for the CDR itself comes from the provider's authorised officer, not from you and not from any software. e-Dex does not issue that statutory certificate.

P26 (formerly Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act). A CDR is exactly this kind of computer-generated record, so a raw printout on its own is usually not enough; the prescribed certificate that identifies the system and attests to the record is typically expected. How it is tendered and weighed is for the court to decide on the facts.

Who certifies a CDR for court?
The statutory certificate for a computer-generated record is given by a person occupying a responsible official position in relation to the operation of the relevant device or the management of the relevant activities — in practice the nodal officer or the person in charge of the telecom service provider's computer system that produced the CDR. e-Dex does not issue that statutory certificate; it helps you record the integrity of the file you receive so the underlying data can be shown to be unaltered.

How should I preserve a CDR file once I receive it?
Keep the original file exactly as received and work only from copies. Immediately compute cryptographic hashes (such as SHA-256) of the original so any later change is detectable, store it in a write-once or read-only location, and log every transfer in a chain-of-custody record. e-Dex can hash the CDR file fully offline on your own Windows machine and produce an integrity certificate recording the values, so you can prove the file is the same one the provider sent.

Conclusion

Presenting CDR evidence well in an Indian court is less about cleverness and more about discipline: obtain the record through a lawful channel, secure the provider's statutory certificate under BSA s.63 / 65B, and prove the file you hold is the one you were given. That last step is where a hash earns its keep. Compute and record cryptographic hashes the moment the CDR arrives, keep a clean chain of custody, and re-verify before you rely on it. You can do the integrity part in minutes, fully offline, on a single Windows machine with e-Dex — the Digital Evidence Integrity Suite. Download it free and make sure your CDR file is exactly what it should be. Remember: this article is general information and not legal advice — read the provision as it stands and take counsel where the stakes warrant it.