The High Court · 2025

Petition under section 528 of BNSS praying ihat in the circumstances stated rn the affidavit frled in support of the petition, the High court may be pleased to stay of all further proceedings in c.c. No. 2481 of 2018 on the file of the court of the XIV Additionat Judge Cum XVlll Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate At Secunderabad. Counsel for the Petitioner(s): SRI. M NARESH Counsel for the Respondents: SRI M.VIVEKANANDA REDDY, ASST. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: ORDER THE HONOIIRABLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURENDER CRIMINAL REVISION CASE NO.318 0F 2025 ORDER: This Criminal Revision Case is filed questioning the Order dated 12.04.2024 in Cr1.M.P.No.2O2 of 2024 rn C.C.No.302481 of 20 18 on the file of the XIV Additional Judge-cum-XVIII Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Secunderabad.

2. Heard learrted counsel for the petitioner and learned Assistant Public Prosecutor appearing for respondent No'1- State and perused the record.

3. The learrred Magistrate permitted respondent No.2/complainatrt to lead secondary evidence relating to documents, i.e., Photostat copies of postal returned envelopes and postal receipts, which were filed along with the complaint, under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. It was not disputed that the originals of the documents were hled before the Court below at the t'me of hling of the complaint. Learned Magistrate fountl that the case was transferred more than 2 once to Courts for which reason the original documents, which were filed, were lost. In the said circumstances, learned Magistrate deemed it appropriate to invoke the provisions under Sections 63 and 65 of the Evidence Act.

4. It is relevant to refer Sections 63 ald 65 of Evidence Act and the same are as follows: "63, Secondary evidence Secondary evidence means and includes -(1)[certified copies given contained;] [ See Section 7 6,infra. ] provisions hereinafter (2)copies made from the original by the mechanical processes which in themselves insure the accuracy of the copy, and copies compared with such copies; (3)copies made from or compared with the original; (4)counterparts of documents as against the parties who did not execute them; (S)oral accounts of the contents of a document given by some person who has himself seen it. Illustrations: (a) A photograph of an original is secondary evidence of its contents though the two have not been compared, if it is proved that the thing photographed was the original. 3 (b)A copy compared with a copy of a letter made by a cop'ring machine is secondary evidence of the conte nts of the letter, if it is shown that Ihe copy ma,1e by the copying machine was made from lhe original. (c)A co[)y transcribeci from a copy, but afterwarcls compared with the original, is secondary evidence; but the copy not so comparerL is not secondary evidence of the original rlthough the copy from which it was transcribed was compared with the original' (d)Neither an oral account of a copy compared with the original nor an oral account of a photograph or a machine copy of the original, is secondaly evidence ol the original.

65. Casies in which secondary evidence relating to document may be given' Secondary evidence may be given of the existenct:, condition or contents of a document in the fo lowing cases : (a) Wher the original is shown or appears to be in the pc,ssession or power of the person against whom ttre document is sought to be proved, or of any p,:rson out of reach of, or not subject to, the pror;ess of the Court, or of any person legally b:und to produce it, and when, after the notice nrentioned in section 66, such person does not produce it; 4 (b) When the existence, conditicn or contents of the original have been proved to be admitted in writing by the person against whom it is proved or by his representative in interest; - (c) When the original has been destroyed or lost, or when the party offering evidence of its contents cannot, for any other reason not arising from his own default or neglect, produce it in reasonable time; (d) When the original is of such a nature as not to be easily movable;(e)When the original is a public document within the meaning of section 74; (f)[When the original is a document of which a certified copy is permitted by this Act, or by any other law in force in [tndia] [[[Cf. the Bankers' Books Evicience Act, 189 1 (18 of 1891), Section 4.11, to be given in evidence; (g) When the originals consist of numerous accounts or other documents which cannot conveniently be examined in Court, and the fact to be proved is the general result of the whole collection. In cases ("), (c) and (d), any secondary evidence of the contents of the documents is admissible. k-r case (b), the written admission is admissible. In case (e) or (f), a certified copy of document, but no other kind of secondary cvicience, is admissible In IJ l case (g), evidence may be given as to the general result oJ the documents by any person who has examined them, and who is skilled in the examina tion of such documents."

5. Admittedly, the originals were available rvhen the complaint was filed and they were lost while the case was transferred from one Court to alother.

6. In the said circumstances, when it is proved that the documents were lost, the complainant should have an opportunity to :Ldduce secondary evidence regarding the documents that were earlier filed. There a-re no grounds to interfere with ttre findings of the learned Magistrate in permitting the complainant to lead the secondary evidence with regard to th: aforesaid documents. However, the proof of the documents shall be considerecl while adjudicating the case. Accordinglrr, this Criminal Petition is dismissed Miscellaneous Pe:itions, pending if any, shall stand closed. P.PADMANABHA REDDY DE REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// J -- To, Secunderabad SECTION OFFICER 1. The Xlv Addrtionar Judge cum xvlr Additionar chief l/etropolitan l\/agistrate at 2. One CC to Sri. M Ntaresh Advocate tOpUCl. 3. Two CCs to Public prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana. [OUT] 4. Two CD Copies. (1'vln nsl HIGH COURT DATED:25104111025 TS o,r 1s stP lffi + ':: i t) 7,. ORDER CRLRC.No.31tl ot 2025 DISMISSING OF THE CRIMINAL REVISION CASE. 1{"p(4 \€r -=<K-c