High Court’s certified copy without seal is not admissible: Hyderabad HC
HYDERABAD: The High Court has refused to interfere with the decision of the trial court raising an objection over the certified copies issued by the High Court since nowhere does it contain the certification as required by Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It has held that the copy of the order passed by the High Court containing no seal or certification as duly required by Section 76 of the Act cannot be called a certified copy.
“Unless there is a seal or certification as duly required under Section 76 of the Act, when it is not called a certified copy and even the High Court Rules in no way exempt application of the said Section for the High Court to issue a certified copy, it is the duty of the registry of the High Court to take care in certifying in compliance with Section 76 of the Act. Thus, to the extent of return of the memo by the trial court to receive the documents as not duly certified as contemplated by Section 76 of the Act, there is nothing to interfere,” Justice B Siva Sankara Rao has observed while disposing of a revision petition filed by a company.
As for the case, the petitioner/defendant company contested the suit filed by three plaintiffs urging the trial court to set aside the resolutions passed by the company reversing a provision relating to guarantee commission.
The company wanted to exhibit a copy of the High Court’s order passed earlier on a petition filed by the company and others before the trial court to adduce evidence. The plaintiffs raised an objection, saying that the order copy was not in accordance with Section 76 and was, therefore, not admissible. The trial court then passed an order returning the document to the defendant/petitioner for want of proper certification.
Aggrieved by the trial court’s order, the company filed a revision petition in the High Court contending that the trial court had erred in passing the impugned order which had been passed by the High Court earlier on a company’s petition and batch, and returning the documents.
After hearing both sides and perusing the material on record, the High Court judge found that the subject certified copies do not contain the certification as required under Section 76. Therefore, to the extent of returning the memo by the trial court and refusal to receive the documents as not duly certified as contemplated by the said section, there is nothing to interfere, he has observed.
The judge has disposed of the revision petition to enable the revision petitioner/defendant to approach High Court registry to certify the same and return for its proper presentation with necessary petition before the trial court, for that the trial court then to receive to exhibit the same as public documents. The judge directed the registry to prepare the stamp/seal in compliance with Section 76 containing the certification as a true copy to the original and the date of certification and the designation of the officer certifying it with his initial hereafter. Till then, a handwritten endorsement on the certified copies will do. The copy may be communicated to all the district judges and courts in AP and Telangana to see that such certification is mandatory under Section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act from its reading with Rule 199 of the Civil Rules of Practice and Circular Orders, the judge said.