Handwriting comparison under Evidence Act Section 73 requires caution; unsupported self-comparison was held unsafe and remand ordered.

Section 73 of the Evidence Act permits a court to compare disputed handwriting or signatures with admitted or proved writing, but the power must be exercised with caution. A finding of authorship should not rest solely on the court's own unguided comparison, especially where no expert opinion was obtained, no specimen handwriting was produced, and the genuineness of the alleged admitted writings was not reliably proved. Unsupported conjecture and reliance on an untrustworthy witness cannot cure the deficiency in proof. The impugned findings based on bare comparison were therefore held unsustainable, and the matter was remanded for fresh decision with directions to obtain expert evidence or otherwise properly prove the handwriting.

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Issues: Whether the Court can compare disputed handwriting or signatures with admitted writings on its own, without expert assistance, and whether the finding based on such comparison was sustainable.

Analysis: Section 73 of the Evidence Act permits the Court to compare disputed writing with admitted or proved writing, but the power must be exercised with prudence and caution. The Court may act on its own comparison, yet the safer course is to obtain expert opinion, or if that is unavailable, to rely on authoritative text books, the Court's own experience and other supporting evidence. A finding founded only on bare comparison, without clear disclosure of the method adopted, without specimen handwriting, and without reliable proof that the alleged admitted writings were genuinely written by the defendant, is unsafe. Conjectures about why signatures were not taken, and reliance on a witness who is not wholly reliable, cannot substitute for cogent proof.

Conclusion: The Court can compare handwriting under Section 73, but the impugned concurrent findings based on an unsupported and faulty comparison were unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the judgments below were set aside, and the suit was remanded for fresh decision with directions to obtain expert evidence or otherwise properly prove the disputed handwriting.

Ratio Decidendi: A Court may compare disputed writing with admitted writing, but a finding of authorship should not rest solely on unguided self-comparison where expert assistance or other reliable supporting proof is absent.

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