Rules as to notice to produce
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Summary
Secondary evidence is admissible only after the party offering it has earlier given the person who has the original (or their lawyer) notice to produce it, as required by law or as the Court finds reasonable. Exceptions include when the document itself is a notice; when the other side must expect to be asked to produce it; when the original was obtained by fraud or force; when the original is in Court; when loss is admitted; or when the holder is beyond Court process; the Court may also dispense with notice.
Example
Rohan sues over a property and wants to tender a photocopy of the sale deed because the defendant has the original but lives abroad. Rohan must first serve the defendant or their lawyer with a notice to produce the original, unless the defendant is beyond the Court's process, in which case no notice is required.
Bare Act
Enacted textSecondary evidence of the contents of the documents referred to in section 65, clause (a), shall not be given unless the party proposing to give such secondary evidence has previously given to the party in whose possession or power the document is, or to his attorney or pleader, such notice to produce it as is prescribed by law, and if no notice is prescribed by law, then such notice as the Court considers reasonable under the circumstances of the case;
Provided that such notice shall not be required in order to render secondary evidence admissible in any of the following cases, or in any other case in which the Court thinks fit to dispense with it—
(1) when the document to be proved is itself a notice;
(2) when, from the nature of the case, the adverse party must know that he will be required to produce it;
(3) when it appears or is proved that the adverse party has obtained possession of the original by fraud or force;
(4) when the adverse party or his agent has the original in Court;
(5) when the adverse party or his agent has admitted the loss of the document;
(6) when the person in possession of the document is out of reach of, or not subject to, the process of the Court.
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