Rebuttal handwriting expert evidence cannot be denied where the plaintiff's expert report is already on record.

A defendant was entitled to place a rebuttal handwriting expert opinion on record after the plaintiff's expert report had already been accepted. Once the disputed thumb impression had been sent to an expert at the plaintiff's instance and that report was before the trial court, denying the defendant an equal opportunity to file rebuttal evidence was unsustainable. The rejection of the request under Section 151 CPC was set aside, and the defendant was permitted to file the rebuttal handwriting expert report.

---

---

Issues: Whether the defendant was entitled to produce a handwriting expert's report in rebuttal after the plaintiff's expert report had been taken on record.

Analysis: The application for sending the disputed thumb impression to a handwriting expert had already been allowed at the instance of the plaintiff, and the expert report was on record. In that situation, the defendant could not be deprived of an equal opportunity to place a rebuttal expert opinion before the trial court. The rejection of the defendant's request under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The rejection order was set aside and the defendant was permitted to file the rebuttal handwriting expert report.

---