‘Money Transaction document cannot be Deemed Utterly Irrelevant’: Trial Court allowed Certified Copy, but HC Sets Aside Order:

In a procedural tussle over critical documents in a civil dispute, the Madhya Pradesh High Court intervened to review the Trial Court’s order permitting secondary evidence from a certified copy.

The controversy began when the plaintiff sought to introduce a document written on a Rs. 100 stamp paper, previously filed in a criminal case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Earlier attempts to place the original or certified copies on record had repeatedly failed, including a civil application under Order 7 Rule 14 CPC and a petition dismissed by the High Court in January 2026.

The trial court later allowed secondary evidence under Section 60 of the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. Counsel for the petitioner argued that the order was erroneous, as the document’s relevance was disputed and previous efforts had been unsuccessful.

Upon review, the Court held that the document cannot be deemed irrelevant at this stage, but its admissibility and weight must be determined at trial. Observing that “once the said document in question contains some record of some money transactions between the parties, then it cannot be inferred that the said document is utterly irrelevant for the purpose of civil case between the parties,” the Court clarified that secondary evidence was premature.

Consequently, the impugned trial court order was set aside, while liberty was preserved for the plaintiff to seek the original document through proper channels.

Case Title: Smt Munendra Kumar Samaiya and Others vs. Smt Varsha Samaiya and Others

Case No.: Misc. Petition No. 1514 of 2026

Coram: Justice Vivek Jain

Advocate for Petitioner: Adv. Rohit Pathak

Advocate for Respondent: None

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