1990 Supreme(AP) 343

Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : YOGESHWAR DAYAL, M.JAGANADHA RAO
Land Acquisition Officer, Vijayawada Thermal Station - Appellant
Versus
N.Venkats Rao - Respondent
A.S. No. 881/82
Decided On : 09-05-90
Advocates Appeared :
Mr. C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy,Mr. Y.B. Tata Rao

Headnote:LAND ACQUISITION ACT - Secs. 11 and 18, Civil Procedure Code. Or. 13, Rule 4 - Evidence Act, Secs. 60, 61, 63 and 65 and Registration Act, Sec. 57 (5) - Objection as to mode of proof cannot be raised after a sale dead or certified CODY thereof or other document is marked as an exhibit when nobody connected with the deed was examined - Contents of a certified copy of sale deed can he treated as evidence though no person connected with the deed has been examined - In a reference under Sec. 18 of Land Acquisition Act the parties cannot rely upon any sale transactions referred to in the award passed under Sec. 11.

       Held : The Trial Court on a reference under Sec. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act after rejecting the evidence tendered by the claimants is precluded from computing compensation in respect of the acquired land on the basis of sale transactions considered and rejected by the Land Acquisition Officer, but not filed into Court and marked as exhibits and admitted into evidence.

       Any objection as to the mode of proof of a document has to be taken at the stage of marking of a document at a trial under Or. 13, Rule 4 C.P.C. If no objection is raised at that stage, it cannot be permitted to be raised at any stage subsequently in the same Court on the Court of Appeal.

       If secondary evidence is allowed to be marked for one party without objection at the trial, no objection can be permitted to be raised by the opposite party at any later stage in the same Court or the in appeal that conditions for adducing secondary evidence have not been made out initially. Though ordinary copies of copies are not to be treated as secondary evidence unless such copies are again compared with the original the said principle does not apply to certified copies granted by the Registrar under the Registration Act. These Certified copies are, under law, to be treated as secondary evidence and once they have acquired such a status, the marking of such documents at the trial without objection result in such documents and their contents being evidence in the case. No objection can be raised in the same suit or proceeding or appeal later by the opposite party that before marking the certified copies, the necessary conditions for adducing secondary evidence have not initially been established. The list of sale transactions mentioned in the award by the L.A.O. cannot be treated as evidence in the Civil Court.

       1985 (2) ALT 492 (D.B.) overruled.

       A.S. Allowed