Indian Evidence Act, 1872
62. Primary evidence
Primary evidence means
the documents itself produced for the inspection of the Court.
Explanation 1- Where a document is
executed in several parts, each part is primary evidence of the document :
Where a document is
executed in counterpart, each counterpart being executed by one or some of the
parties only, each counterpart is primary evidence as against the parties
executing it.
Explanation 2- Where a number of
documents are all made by one uniform process, as in the case of printing,
lithography, or photography, each is primary evidence of the contents of the rest
; but, where they are all copies of a common original, they are not primary
evidence of the contents of the original.
Illustrations
A person is shown to
have been in possession of a number of placards, all printed at one time from
one original. Any one of the placards is primary evidence of the contents of
any other, but no one of them is primary evidence of the contents of the
original.