Belated production of original documents may be refused when no circumstance beyond control is shown, with adverse inference sustained.

Further adjournment for producing original documents is not granted as a matter of course where the party has repeatedly failed to file them despite long opportunities. The proviso to Order XVII Rule 1 CPC permits adjournment only when the delay is shown to arise from circumstances beyond the party's control; absent such showing, the trial court may refuse indulgence and draw an adverse inference from persistent non-production. On that basis, the refusal to take the belated documents on record and the dismissal of the Section 151 application were upheld, with no material irregularity or illegality found in revision.

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Issues: Whether the trial court was justified in dismissing the application under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 for taking original documents on record, and whether the refusal to grant further adjournment and the consequential adverse inference were liable to be interfered with in revision.

Analysis: The original documents were admittedly in the possession of the petitioner and had been required to be produced for a long period. The petitioner failed to place them on record despite repeated opportunities over several years and no sufficient was shown for the prolonged non-production. The proviso to Order XVII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 permits adjournment only where the circumstances are beyond the control of the party, and the record did not disclose any such circumstance. In these circumstances, the trial court was justified in declining further indulgence and in drawing an adverse inference against the petitioner.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the application under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 was upheld and no material irregularity or illegality was found in the trial court's order.

Final Conclusion: The revision was held to be without merit and the impugned order refusing to take the documents on record remained undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Further adjournment for production of documents cannot be granted as a matter of course where the party fails to show circumstances beyond its control, and a revisional court will not interfere with a reasoned refusal to accept belated documents or with the adverse inference flowing from persistent non-production.

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