IEA 47 — Opinion as to hand-writing, when relevant

Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Statutory text

When the Court has to form an opinion as to the
person  by  whom  any  document  was  written  or  signed, the  opinion  of  any  person  acquainted  with  the
handwriting of the person by whom it is supposed to be written or signed that it was or was not written or signed by that person, is a relevant fact.
Explanation.––A person is said to be acquainted with the hand-writing of another person when he has
seen  that  person  write,  or  when  he  has  received  documents  purporting  to  be  written  by  that  person  in
answer to documents written by himself or under his authority and addressed to that person, or when, in
the ordinary course of business, documents purporting to be written by that person have been habitually submitted to him.

Illustration The question is, whether a given letter is in the hand-writing of A, a merchant in London.
B is a merchant in Calcutta, who has written letters addressed to A and received letters purporting to be  written  by  him.  C,  is  B’s  clerk  whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  and  file  B’s  correspondence.  D  is  B’s
broker,  to  whom  B  habitually  submitted  the  letters purporting  to  be  written  by  A  for  the  purpose  of advising with him thereon.
The opinions of B, C and D on the question whether the letter is in the handwriting of A are relevant, though neither B, C nor D ever saw A write.

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