Certified bank statements are only rebuttable proof; disputed debit entries require supporting evidence to establish liability.

A certified bank statement under the Bankers' Books Evidence Act creates only a rebuttable presumption and does not by itself conclusively prove liability. When debit entries are specifically disputed, the bank must produce supporting evidence such as the underlying ledger or other proof of the transactions. Here, the bank witness had no personal knowledge of how the statement was prepared, the ledger was not produced, the interest entries did not match the loan terms, and the alleged consolidated interest debit after closure of the account was not explained satisfactorily. The disputed debit entries were therefore treated as unproved, and the decree against the guarantor could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether the bank proved the disputed debit entries in the certified statement of account so as to sustain the decree against the guarantor.

Analysis: A certified bank statement under the Bankers' Books Evidence Act raises only a rebuttable presumption and is not conclusive proof of liability. Where the entries are specifically challenged, the bank must produce supporting evidence to prove the disputed debits. On the facts, the witness had no personal knowledge of the preparation of the statement, the underlying ledger was not produced, the interest entries were inconsistent with the loan terms, and the alleged consolidated interest debit after the account had been closed was not satisfactorily explained or proved. The statement of account was therefore found unreliable and the disputed debit entries were held to be unproved.

Conclusion: The disputed debit entries were not proved, and the decree against the appellant could not be sustained.

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