Admissibility of electronic records under Section 65-B of the Evidence Act

C.V. Sirpurkar, J.

This order shall govern the disposal of I.A. No. 14040/2015 filed on behalf of election petitioner under Order 16, Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure and I.A. No. 14043/2015 also filed on behalf of the election petitioner under Order 7, Rule 14 (3) of the Code of Civil Procedure.

I.A.No. 14040/2015

2. This application under Order 16, Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, has been filed on behalf of election petitioner Kamal Patel on 26-10-2015 for summoning the record from the office of Returning Officer of 135, Harda assembly constituency.

3. It has been submitted hereby that in paragraph no. 16 of the election petition, the petitioner had pleaded that the Election Commission of India had video-graphed the public meetings of all candidates of major political parties, including the public meetings held by respondent No.1 Ram Kishore Dogne. The petitioner had obtained copies of such video-recordings in the form of Compact Discs. The petitioner filed an application before the District Election Officer on 25-12-2013 (copy of the application, Document No. 1 annexed to I.A. No. 14040/2015). Pursuant to aforesaid application, the Returning Officer instructed the petitioner to deposit requisite amount vide his letter dated 26-12-2013 (document no. 2). Accordingly, the petitioner deposited the requisite amount on 31-12-2013 vide document no. 3. Thereafter, the Compact Discs were duly supplied to him which were filed along with election petition as annexure numbers from P/19 to P/25. The original Compact Discs officially prepared by the Election Commission are in the possession of the Returning Officer. Therefore, it has been prayed that the Returning Officer of 135, Harda Assembly Constituency be summoned with originals Compact Discs in the Court.

4. It has further been submitted that it has been pleaded in paragraph no. 16 (iii) of the petition that Shri Surendra Jain, who was Election Agent of the petitioner, lodged a complaint (Annexure-P/14) with the Returning Officer on 19-11-2013 to the effect that the respondent installed a large hoarding at State Bank Chowk, Harda, making false allegations about the petitioner so as to prejudice his electoral prospects. Annexure-P/14 was accompanied by the image of the flex hoarding in a Compact Disc, as also the judgment and order of concerned criminal Court, discharging the petitioner in the criminal case. Though, the Election Agent of the petitioner, Surendra Jain, retained copy of the complaint (Annexure-P/14), he did not retain the copy of the Compact Disc. Therefore, it has further been prayed that the Returning Officer of aforesaid Constituency be summoned with original complaint along with enclosed Compact Disc.

5. I.A.No. 14040/2015 has been vehemently opposed by learned counsel for the respondent Ram Kishore Dogne by filing a written reply. It has been submitted in the reply that for just decision of I.A.No.14040/2015, it is imperative to keep in mind the pleadings of the petitioner. It has been pleaded in the election petition that the petitioner has obtained copies of the video-recordings which are in the form of Compact Discs; however, the source from which the so called Compact Discs were obtained by him, has not been disclosed. It has not been pleaded that the petitioner applied to the Election Commission or any of its authorities to obtain certified copies of such Compact Discs. The date of application has also not been pleaded. No pleading with regard to deposit of any amount with the Election Commission for obtaining certified copy of the Compact Discs is to be found in the petition. Likewise, there is no mention in the petition of the date on which such copies were furnished to him. The Compact Discs (from Annexures P/19 to P/25) annexed to the election petition do not bear any certification on their body. Even the name, address and signatures of the person preparing such Compact Discs and the manner in which they were prepared, has not been mentioned