When oral admissions as to contents of documents are relevant.

What this section does

Oral admissions as to the contents of a document are not relevant unless the party seeking to prove them has established a right to give secondary evidence of the document under the applicable rules, or unless the genuineness of a document produced is itself in question. The section prevents oral evidence from being used as a backdoor substitute for documentary proof.

AI-generated plain-language summary. For the binding statutory text, see India Code (official).

The rule in one line

Oral admissions about a document's contents are inadmissible unless secondary evidence of the document is permissible or the document's genuineness is in dispute.

When it applies

• A party cannot prove the terms of a written contract by oral admission of the other side unless the original is lost or secondary evidence is otherwise permitted.
• Where the genuineness of a will produced in court is disputed, oral admissions about its contents become relevant.

Derived from IEA s.22.