Section 164
The text of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 is not held here: India Code has no complete official copy of it. The section that replaced it is below.
Source: IndiaCode Portal, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Check against the official text before relying on it.
Replaced by
The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, Section 167. Using, as evidence, of document production of which was refused on notice.
When a party refuses to produce a document which he has had notice to produce, he cannot afterwards use the document as evidence without the consent of the other party or the order of the Court.
Illustration.
A sues B on an agreement and gives B notice to produce it. At the trial, A calls for the document and B refuses to produce it. A gives secondary evidence of its contents. B seeks to produce the document itself to contradict the secondary evidence given by A, or in order to show that the agreement is not stamped. He cannot do so.
Pair from: BPR&D correspondence tables (bprd.mha.gov.in; A. K. Yadav, CAPT Bhopal)