Section 5

Section 5 is the signature-specific companion to Section 4 (electronic records equivalence). While Section 4 makes electronic records legally equivalent to paper documents, Section 5 makes digital signatures legally equivalent to handwritten wet-ink signatures. Wherever any Indian law requires a signature — on a contract, company filing, court pleading, tax return, insurance proposal, or government application — a digital signature affixed in the prescribed manner satisfies that requirement. The phrase 'in such manner as may be prescribed' gives the Central Government authority to specify technical standards for how digital signatures must be applied, which it has done through the IT (Certifying Authorities) Rules 2000. The practical impact is enormous: company directors file board resolutions and statutory forms digitally with the Registrar of Companies; chartered accountants digitally sign audit reports submitted to SEBI and ITAT; lawyers sign vakalatnamas electronically; government officers sign circulars and orders digitally. All of these derive legal validity from Section 5 read with Section 3. By extension, Section 5 also applies to electronic signatures under Section 3A — MeitY's eSign notification has the same legal effect as a traditional DSC for most purposes. The only carved-out categories where physical signatures remain mandatory are those listed in the First Schedule to the Act: wills, negotiable instruments, powers of attorney, and contracts for immovable property sale.