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Criminal Procedure Code QUESTION #9535
Question 1
A Court recording evidence in a civil suit allows a party to produce a document which is a carbon copy of an original without proving the original's existence or unavailability. The opposing party objects. What should the Court do?
  • Allow the copy and direct the original to be produced later
  • Sustain the objection; secondary evidence of a document including carbon copies can only be admitted under the circumstances prescribed in the Evidence Act, such as proving the original is lost, destroyed or in the possession of the opposite party; mere production of a copy without accounting for the original is improper✔️
  • Allow the carbon copy since all copies are equivalent
  • Allow the copy since civil Courts have relaxed evidentiary standards
Correct Answer Explanation
Under the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984 (the Pakistani evidence law), secondary evidence of a document is only admissible after the original has been proved to be lost, in the possession of the adverse party, in the custody of a person abroad, or otherwise unavailable. Admission of a copy without establishing the above conditions violates the best evidence rule.