Write a note on provision for the giving as evidence, of the document called for and produced on notice.

Question: Write a note on provision for the giving as evidence, of the document called for and produced on notice.

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Answer

Section 163 of the Indian Evidence Act talks about the provision for the giving, as evidence, of the document called for and produced on notice-

When a party calls for a document which he has given the other party notice to produce, and such document is produced and inspected by the party calling for its production, he is bound to give it as evidence if the party producing it requires him to do so.

Section 163 gives provision for the production of documents by one party to the suit or proceeding on the instance of the other. It lays down that if a party to the proceeding summons a document from the other party and inspects it he cannot refuse to produce it in the case if the party producing the paper so desires.

Ingredients of the section

Under Section 163 the party is bound to give the opponent’s document as evidence, in the case if the three conditions are fulfilled.

1. The first condition is that the document should be required by that party to be produced in evidence.
2. The second condition is that it should be inspected by the party.
3. The third condition is that the party producing the document should require the party calling for it to put it in evidence. Such documents need no further proof and should be admitted in toto.

Evidentiary Value of such evidence

There is no authority for the proposition that the evidence which is admitted under this section must be deemed to be conclusive against the party who has inspected the document. The language of the section does not suggest this.

As held in Phoolchand Garg v. Gopaldas Agarwal [AIR 1990 M.P. 135], a document so produced becomes ‘evidence’ only when it is produced for the inspection of the court and only then the court will pronounce upon its relevancy, admissibility and will call upon the party on whom the burden of proof is to prove the truth of its contents and its genuineness. Cross-examination could be used for that purpose.

In Ram Adhin v. Ram Dayal. AIR 1919 Oudh. The court has rightly laid down that, “All that happens is that the documents which the other party has produced become evidence in the cases for what they are worth”.

This section applies not only to civil cases but also to criminal trials. It has no application where the document has already been produced before the court by any party to the case.

The section comes into play when the party in possession or power of the document has not produced the same in the court and runs the risk of adverse inference being drawn against him or being debarred from producing the document in the court at a later stage of the proceedings unless his opponent becomes instrumental in seeking production and inspection of the document.

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