Section 61 of Evidence Act "Proof of contents of documents"
The contents of documents may be proved either by primary or by secondary evidence.
Section 62 of Evidence Act "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.
Section 63 of Evidence Act "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 ensure 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 documents given by
some person who has himself seen it.
Illustration
(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.
(b) A copy compared with a copy of a letter made by a
copying machine is secondary evidence of the contents of the
letter, if it is shown that the copy made by the copying
machine was made from the original.
(c) A copy transcribed from a copy, but afterwards compared
with the original, is secondary evidence; but he copy not so
compared is not secondary evidence of the original, although
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 machine
copy of the original, is secondary evidence of the original.