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Secondary Evidence

Legal definition for Indian law research

Definition

Secondary evidence, Secondary evidence means and includes:

(1) Certified copies given under the provisions hereinafter contained;

(2) Copies made from the original by 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;

(5) Oral accounts of the contents of a document given by some person who has himself seen it. [Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872), s. 63]

That species of proof which is admitted on the loss of primary evidence. There are no degrees of this evidence; for example, if a letter be lost it may be as good as recite it from memory as to produce a copy. It is the province of the judge to decide whether a document produced be original or not, and until he decides it is not, no secondary evidence can be put in. See NOTICE TO ADMIT; NOTICE TO PRODUCE; HEARSAY.

Definitions are for legal research. Always verify meaning in the context of the statute, judgment, or jurisdiction cited.

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