Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. v. Orient Ship Agency Pvt. Ltd.
In the High Court of Bombay
Notice of Motion 1666/2016
Before Justice G.S. Patel
Decided on February 26, 2018

Relevancy of the case: Certificate requirements under Section 65B for account statement presented by the bank

Statutes & Provisions Involved

• The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Section 65B)
• The Bankers’ Book Evidence Act, 1891 (Section 2A, 2B)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• Some of the applicant’s documents on 09-08-2017 were marked in evidence. On 12-01-2017, the said documents which included the Board Resolution of 12 January 2017, were compiled in an undated compilation.
• These documents were signed as a co-director of the applicant company. These were all photocopies of non-negotiable lading bills and these documents were at Sr. Nos. 17, 15, 14, 13 and 5. The rest of the documents in the compilation were originals and they included duly-marked non-negotiable copies of bills of lading.
• The applicant filed an appeal before the high court for a leave to lead secondary evidence.

Opinion of the Bench

• The court was of the opinion that the applicant’s witness can be cross-examined by the decree holder. Applicant’s plea can be considered since the deponent was the director of the applicant. Documents regarding the HSBC bank statements will be proven separately.
• The branch manager from Saraswat Bank, Mr Suresh L had brought the original certificate of the document. The original certificate was brought as per section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and Section 2B of the Bankers’ Book Evidence Act, 1891. These were marked as evidence and taken into the record.

Final Decision

• As per Order 21 Rule 58 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the weight of the five documents will be left to the final hearing.
• The original statement and the two certificates are marked as “Exhibit II” and they are taken on record. The document at serial no. 26 will be marked as “Exhibit JJ”.
• The witness shall stand discharged and he was only called for the production of documents.

This case summary has been prepared by Afsana Khan, an undergraduate student at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in June/July 2020.