The plaintiff is the appellant. The suit was on a pronote for Rs. 500, dated 16th June, 1946, executed by the defendant in favour of the plaintiff repayable on demand with interest at 9 per cent, per annum. The pronote in the case was admittedly torn where the stamps were alleged to have been affixed. The plaintiff’s case is that she entrusted the pronote to her brother for safe custody and when she looked at the pronote prior to the filing the suit, she found that a portion of the pronote bearing the signature of the defendant on the stamps was torn away. In the written statement of the defendant, his case was that the suit pronote was executed nominally and that at a settlement effected between the parties the pronote was discharged and the stamp was torn in the presence of the mediators, but was left with the defendant in connection with the settlement of the disputes with a third party. One of the issues framed in the suit was whether the suit was maintainable as the pronote did not bear the revenue stamps. The suit was filed on 10th November, 1947 and on 4th September, 1948, when evidence was taken the plaintiff examined her brother as P.W.1 who stated that the defenda