Admitted documents and stamp duty objections: once evidence is accepted, admissibility cannot be reopened except in limited circumstances.

Documents once admitted in evidence cannot later be excluded for want of proper stamping after the trial court has applied its mind to stamp duty and penalty. Section 36 of the Stamp Act makes such admission conclusive, subject only to the limited exception under section 61, and the issue cannot be reopened in appeal or revision on the ground of insufficient stamping. Where execution is also admitted by the executant, no further proof is required if proof is otherwise necessary. The objection to admissibility on stamping therefore fails once the documents have been formally admitted.

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Issues: Whether documents once admitted in evidence can later be excluded on the ground that they were not duly stamped.

Analysis: The hundis had been marked as exhibits and endorsed as admitted in evidence after the trial court applied its mind to the question of stamp duty and penalty. Section 36 of the Stamp Act makes such admission conclusive, save for the limited exception contemplated by section 61, and does not permit the matter to be reopened in appeal or revision on the ground of insufficient stamping. The High Court therefore erred in treating the admission as a mere mistake and in going behind the trial court's order. The execution of the documents had also been admitted by the executant, so no further proof was required if proof was otherwise necessary.

Conclusion: The documents could not be rejected as inadmissible after their admission in evidence, and the objection based on stamping failed.

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