RTI certified copies as secondary evidence under the Evidence Act are admissible without comparison to the original.

Certified copies obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005 can qualify as secondary evidence under Section 65(f) of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 because the right to obtain information includes taking certified copies of documents or records. Once a document falls within that provision, it is admissible as secondary evidence without any further requirement to compare it with the original for admissibility. The effect is that RTI-issued certified copies are treated as admissible documentary evidence under the Evidence Act.

---

---

Issues: Whether certified copies of documents obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005 can be admitted as secondary evidence under the Evidence Act.

Analysis: Section 65(f) of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 permits a certified copy, where such copy is allowed by any other law in force, to be given in evidence as secondary evidence. The right to obtain information under Section 2(j)(ii) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 includes taking certified copies of documents or records. On that basis, copies obtained under the Right to Information Act were held to be certified copies within the meaning of the Evidence Act. Once the document fell within Section 65(f), there was no requirement to compare it with the original for admissibility as secondary evidence.

Conclusion: Certified copies obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005 are admissible as secondary evidence, and the challenge to their admission fails.

---