Dear Experts,
In the absence of primary evidence to the contrary, what is the value of an attested copy of the original document (record of financial transaction) as evidence in a court of law?
Thanks,
Kaushik.
N.K.Assumi (Advocate) 05 August 2015
you must first account for the lost of the original copy before the Court that it has been lost or destroyed etc and pray to the court for leading in secondary evidence in your possession.
Rama chary Rachakonda (Secunderabad/Telangana state Highcourt practice watsapp no.9989324294 ) 06 August 2015
Secondary evidence, as a general rule, is admissible only in the absence of primary evidence. If the original itself is found to be inadmissible through failure of the party who files it to prove it to be valid, the same party is not entitled to introduce secondary evidence of its contents. (Vide Queen Empress v. Viran (1886) I.L.R. 9 M. 224 and Section 64 of the Evidence Act. If an admission cannot be made use of as secondary evidence of a document inadmissible in evidence for want of stamp or registration (Cf. Varada v. Krishnasami (1882) I.L.R. 6 M. 117 and Somu Gurukkal v. Rangammal (1873) 7 M.H.C.R. p. l3), a fortiori the Courts cannot allow admissions to be used as secondary evidence of the contents of a document when the document put forward as an original is found to be a forgery.