Section 2. Definitions.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--- (a) “bank” and “banker” mean--- (i) any company or corporation carrying on the business of banking; (ii) any entity or class of entities operating in financial sector, to whose books the provisions of this Act shall have been extended as hereinafter provided; (iii) any post office savings bank or money order office; (b) “bankers’ books” include ledgers, day-books, cash-books, account books and all other records used in the ordinary course of business of the bank, whether kept in written or physical form or stored in any form of data storage mechanisms such as electronic or digital form, or otherwise, either onsite or at any offsite or virtual or cloud location, including a back-up or disaster recovery site, or both; (c) “certified copy”, in relation to any entry or information contained in the bankers’ book, shall mean the following, namely:--- (i) where the bankers’ book is maintained in written or physical form, a copy of any entry or information in such books together with a certificate referred to in sub-section (1) of section 3; and (ii) where the bankers’ book is maintained in any other mode of data storage mechanisms, such as, electronic or digital form or otherwise, a copy of any entry or information in such bankers’ book, which is printed on paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media or semi-conductor memory, or otherwise stored, recorded or copied in any electronic or digital form, together with the certificate in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 3; (d) “company” means any company as defined in clause (20) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) and includes a foreign company within the meaning of clause (42) of the said section; (e) “corporation” means any body corporate established by or under any law for the time being in force in India and includes the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India or any corresponding new bank constituted under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (5 of 1970) and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980 (40 of 1980); (f) “legal proceeding” means--- (i) any proceeding or inquiry in which evidence is or may be taken; (ii) an arbitration; and (iii) any investigation or inquiry under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023), or under any other law for the time being in force for the collection of evidence, conducted by a police officer, or by any other person (not being a Magistrate) authorised in this behalf by a Magistrate or by any law for the time being in force; (g) “notification” means a notification published in the Gazette of India and the expression “notify” with its grammatical variation and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly; and (h) “trial” means any hearing before the Court at which evidence is taken. (2) Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996), the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (47 of 2023), shall have the same meanings as assigned to them in the said Acts.