Secondary evidence requires strict statutory foundation; photocopies alone are insufficient unless Section 65 conditions are proved.

Secondary evidence is admissible only when the statutory foundation for non-production of the original document is first established. Sections 63 and 64 make primary evidence the general rule, and Section 65(a) permits secondary evidence only where the original is shown or appears to be in the possession or power of the opposite party or another person who fails to produce it after notice under Section 66. A mere photocopy, without proof of these conditions, does not satisfy the legal requirements for admission as secondary evidence. On that basis, the photocopies were held inadmissible and the appeal was liable to fail.

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Issues: Whether photocopies could be received as secondary evidence and whether the conditions for admission of secondary evidence under Section 65(a) were satisfied.

Analysis: Secondary evidence is admissible only when the law permits departure from primary evidence and the foundational requirements for such admission are first established. Section 63 exhaustively defines secondary evidence, while Section 64 makes primary evidence the general rule. Under Section 65(a), secondary evidence of a document's existence, condition or contents may be given only when the original is shown or appears to be in the possession or power of the opposite party or another person who does not produce it after notice under Section 66. A mere photocopy, without proof of the circumstances bringing the case within Section 65(a), does not by itself satisfy the legal requirements for secondary evidence.

Conclusion: The photocopies were not admissible as secondary evidence because the requirements of Section 65(a) were not met. The appeal was therefore liable to fail.

Ratio Decidendi: Secondary evidence can be admitted only after the statutory foundation for non-production of the original is established, and photocopies alone are insufficient unless the case falls within Section 65 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

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