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  • Section 5, Subsection 2 of the 1983 Income Tax Act
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Citation Codes
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  • Section 5, Subsection 2 of the 1983 Income Tax Act
Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

The appellant was employed as a Lecturer in a Higher Secondary School in Ajmer. He instituted Civil Suit No. 332 of 1987 before the Additional Munsif and Judicial Magistrate, Ajmer (West), seeking a declaration that his correct date of birth is 28-8-1945 (instead of 20-5-1943 as recorded in his service book) and a consequential direction that his service book be amended accordingly.

The suit was contested and dismissed on merits by the trial court. The appellant then filed Civil Regular Appeal No. 30 of 1990 before the Additional District Judge 2, Ajmer, along with an application under Order 41 Rule 27 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) to produce additional documents. Both the appeal and the Order 41 Rule 27 application were dismissed. He thereafter filed Civil Second Appeal No. 455 of 2000 before the Rajasthan High Court (Jaipur Bench), which was dismissed at the admission stage by judgment dated 3-2-2004. A subsequent Review Petition No. 3 of 2004 was also dismissed by order dated 9-2-2005. The present appeals challenged both the High Court’s judgment and its review order.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether the appellant was entitled to adduce additional evidence in the first appellate court under Order 41 Rule 27 CPC in support of his claimed date of birth.
  2. Whether the High Court erred in confirming the rejection of the appellant’s Order 41 Rule 27 CPC application and dismissing the second appeal at the admission stage.

Arguments of the Parties

Appellant's Arguments

  • The document showing the appellant’s date of birth, though filed, was omitted to be exhibited during trial.
  • The appellate court erroneously rejected the application to produce additional evidence (under Order 41 Rule 27 CPC).
  • The High Court failed to appreciate these aspects, and therefore the judgment in Civil Second Appeal No. 455 of 2000 should be set aside.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The document the appellant sought to introduce was in his possession during the pendency of the suit.
  • It was neither tendered nor exhibited during examination of witnesses at trial.
  • The courts below rightly rejected the application for additional evidence.

Table of Precedents Cited

No precedents were cited in the provided opinion.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The Court noted that the appellant sought declaratory relief to correct his recorded date of birth from 20-5-1943 to 28-8-1945, and emphasized that the burden of proof lay on the plaintiff to establish the pleaded facts. The Court accepted the concurrent factual observation of the courts below that, in his oral testimony, the appellant did not even state that his actual date of birth was 28-8-1945, and he failed to produce documents proving that date, leading to dismissal of the suit.

On the attempt to introduce additional evidence in appeal, the Court applied Order 41 Rule 27 CPC, reiterating that additional evidence is not permitted in appeal unless the rule’s stipulated conditions are satisfied. The Court specifically found that it was not the appellant’s case that the trial court refused to admit evidence which ought to have been admitted, nor was it his case that the evidence was not within his knowledge or could not be produced despite due diligence during trial. Instead, the appellant’s contention was that the document was filed but was omitted to be tendered and exhibited. The lower appellate court had considered these facts and concluded that none of the conditions under Order 41 Rule 27 were satisfied, and therefore the appellant was not entitled to adduce additional evidence. The Supreme Court agreed with this approach and held that the High Court correctly confirmed that finding.

Holding and Implications

DISMISSED: The Court dismissed the appeals, finding no merit in them, and made no order as to costs.

The direct consequence is that the High Court’s dismissal of the second appeal and the review petition remains undisturbed, and the appellant does not obtain a declaration correcting his date of birth in the service records. The opinion applies Order 41 Rule 27 CPC to the facts as found by the courts below; it does not indicate that any new legal principle or precedent was laid down.

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    Lekhraj Bansal v. State Of Rajasthan And Another

    Chockalingam Nagappan, J.— Leave granted. These appeals are directed against the judgment and decree dated 3-2-2004 passed by the learned Single Judge of the High Court of Rajasthan in Lekhraj Bansal v. State Civil Second Appeal No. 455 of 2000 and also against the review order dated 9-2-2005 passed in Lekhraj Bansal v. State of Rajasthan Civil Review Petition No. 3 of 2004, thereof.

    2. The appellant was employed as a Lecturer in a Higher Secondary School in Ajmer and he filed Civil Suit No. 332 of 1987 on the file of the Additional Munsif and Judicial Magistrate, Ajmer (West), seeking for a declaration that his correct date of birth is 28-8-1945 and the correct date of birth be deemed to be amended in his service book. The suit was resisted and the trial court dismissed the same on merit. The plaintiff preferred appeal in Civil Regular Appeal No. 30 of 1990 on the file of the Additional District Judge 2, Ajmer along with an application under Order 41 Rule 27 CPC to receive additional documents and the appellate court dismissed both the appeal as well as the application. Challenging the same the appellant-plaintiff preferred Civil Second Appeal No. 455 of 2000 on the file of the High Court of Judicature of Rajasthan at Jaipur Bench. The High Court dismissed the second appeal at admission stage by judgment dated 3-2-2004 Civil Second Appeal No. 455 of 2000. The appellant filed Review Petition No. 3 of 2004 and that also came to be dismissed by order dated 9-2-2005 Civil Review Petition No. 3 of 2004. Challenging the judgment as well as the review order passed by the High Court the present appeals are preferred.

    3. Mr Calla, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that the document showing the date of birth of the appellant though filed was omitted to be exhibited during the trial of the suit and the application for production of additional evidence in the appellate court came to be erroneously rejected and the High Court has failed to appreciate the same in proper perspective and hence the impugned judgment Civil Second Appeal No. 455 of 2000 is liable to be set aside.

    4. Per contra, the learned Additional Advocate General contended that the document which the appellant sought to bring on record was very much in his possession even during pendency of the suit but it was neither tendered nor got exhibited in evidence during the examination of the witnesses and the courts below have rightly rejected the application.

    5. The case of the appellant is that his date of birth has wrongly been recorded in his service book as 20-5-1943, whereas his correct date of birth is 28-8-1945 and he sought for a declaratory relief to the said effect. It is needless to say that the burden is on the plaintiff to prove the case pleaded by him. As observed by the courts below the appellant in his oral testimony as plaintiff has not stated that his actual date of birth is 28-8-1945. He also failed to produce any document to prove that his correct date of birth is 28-8-1945 which resulted in the dismissal of the suit by the trial court. During the pendency of the appeal, he filed an application under Order 41 Rule 27 CPC for taking on record the date of birth certificate issued by the Municipal Council, Ajmer.

    6. The parties to an appeal shall not be entitled to produce additional evidence in the appellate court unless the conditions stipulated under Order 41 Rule 27 CPC are satisfied. It is not the case of the appellant that the trial court had refused to admit the said evidence which ought to have been admitted. It is also not the case of the appellant that the said evidence was not within his knowledge or could not, after the exercise of due diligence, be produced by him during pendency of the suit before the trial court. On the other hand it is vehemently contended that the said evidence, namely, the document was filed but was omitted to be tendered in evidence and got exhibited in the suit. The lower appellate court elaborately considered the factual matrix and held that the appellant has not satisfied any of the conditions stipulated under Order 41 Rule 27 and hence is not entitled to produce additional evidence. In our view the said finding has rightly been confirmed by the High Court.

    7. There are no merits in these appeals and the same are dismissed. No costs.

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    Lekhraj Bansal v. State Of Rajasthan And Another
    (Feb 25, 2014)