Mandatory Section 65-B certificate for electronic records cannot be denied where the party has sought court assistance to obtain it.

Section 65-B certification for electronic records is mandatory to establish source and authenticity, and where a party has taken all possible steps to obtain the certificate, the court should summon the person concerned and require its production. The trial court erred in stating that no such request had been made and in treating the application as belated, despite the party having specifically sought directions for records from the Income Tax Department. That rejection reflected non-application of mind and was perverse, so it was quashed. The trial court was directed to call upon the Income Tax Department to furnish the certificate for the documents, after which they could be considered in evidence.

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Issues: Whether the order rejecting the application seeking a direction to the Income Tax Department to furnish a certificate under Section 65-B for the documents produced from its records and to mark those documents in evidence was sustainable.

Analysis: The certificate contemplated by Section 65-B is mandatory for proving electronic records and is intended to ensure source and authenticity. Where the party has done everything possible to obtain the certificate and the same is not furnished, the party may move the Court, and the trial court must summon the person concerned and require the certificate to be produced. The petitioner had already taken steps to secure the records from the Income Tax Department and had specifically sought a direction in the application under Exhibit 453. The trial court's view that no such request had been made and that the application was belated was found to be erroneous. The rejection was held to rest on a clear non-application of mind and to be perverse.

Conclusion: The rejection of the application was unsustainable and was quashed. The trial court was directed to call upon the Income Tax Department to furnish the necessary certificate under Section 65-B in respect of the documents at Exhibit 313, after which the documents could be considered for evidence.

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