Written loan acknowledgment controlled; res judicata and exclusion of oral evidence preserved the balance liability.

An affidavit-cum-undertaking was treated as an admitted and final document, so the loan figure could not be re-opened after earlier litigation on the same issue, and res judicata barred further challenge. Oral evidence could not vary the written terms because the alleged lower understanding was inconsistent with the document and hit by the exclusion rule against contradicting a written contract. On repayment, only part payment of Rs. 1,30,000 was accepted on the evidence, while an alleged cash payment remained unproved and a payment made in settlement of cheque proceedings was held to relate to a separate liability. The balance loan liability therefore remained enforceable.

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Issues: Whether the defendant had successfully challenged the loan liability of Rs. 6,00,000, established repayment beyond Rs. 1,30,000, and shown that the balance decree for Rs. 4,70,000 with interest was unsustainable.

Analysis: The Affidavit-cum-Undertaking dated 13.12.2007 was treated as an admitted and final document, and the defendant was precluded from disputing the loan figure because the same document had already been upheld in earlier litigation, attracting the bar of res judicata. Oral evidence was not permitted to vary the written terms, as the alleged understanding that the amount would be treated as Rs. 4,10,000 was inconsistent with the document and was barred by Section 92 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. On repayment, the plaintiff's admission established only Rs. 1,30,000 as part repayment of the loan. The alleged cash payment of Rs. 18,500 was unsupported by evidence, and the amount paid in settlement of proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 related to the brother's cheque liability and not to the defendant's independent loan liability.

Conclusion: The defendant failed to dislodge the finding that the loan was Rs. 6,00,000 and that only Rs. 1,30,000 had been repaid; the decree for the balance of Rs. 4,70,000 with interest was upheld.

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