The Supreme Court has held that signed carbon copy of a document is as good as the original document and can be relied as evidence. The court maintained that a carbon copy in this form will be admissible as a primary evidence under Section 62 of the Indian Evidence Act.
The bench, led by Justice Deepak Gupta, was dealing with an appeal against an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a land dispute matter. The high court had rejected the carbon copy as evidence. It said a carbon copy of a document, which is signed by both the parties, cannot be termed as an original document under Section 62 of the Evidence Act. But the Supreme Court set aside this order.
“This finding of the High Court is absolutely incorrect and against the provision of Section 62 of the Evidence Act. This carbon copy was prepared in the same process as the original document and once it is signed by both the parties, it assumes the character of the original document,” held the bench.
The top court further pointed out that an explanatory provision in Section 62 that also talked about copying and printing from the original document. It has now remitted the matter back to the High Court to adjudicate the case afresh after taking on record the carbon copy.
