REG 089 Certified Copy and Original Registered Document — Law of Registration Notes for Judiciary

The Certified Copy and the Original Registered Document: Section 57, Section 60, and the Evidence Provisions That Govern Each

When registration is complete the original is returned to the party entitled to it, and a copy of it remains in the register. The two are governed by different provisions and carry different evidentiary weight. The original is a private document in the hands of the party, and is primary evidence of itself. The copy in the register is part of a public record kept by a public officer, and a certified copy of it, issued under Section 57, is by the terms of Section 57(5) admissible for the purpose of proving the contents of the original. Neither proves title, and neither by itself proves execution where execution is denied.

Where each document sits, what it carries, and how the Sakshya Adhiniyam treats it

1. What Happens to the Original

Sections 51, 52(2) and 61, Registration Act, 1908, in substance

51(1). Book 1 is the "Register of non testamentary documents relating to immovable property"; Book 2 the "Record of reasons for refusal to register"; Book 3 the "Register of wills and authorities to adopt"; Book 4 the "Miscellaneous Register"; and, in the office of the Registrar, Book 5 the "Register of deposits of wills".

51(2). In Book 1 shall be entered or filed all documents or memoranda registered under sections 17, 18 and 89 which relate to immovable property and are not wills.

52(2). Every document admitted to registration shall without unnecessary delay be copied in the book appropriated therefor according to the order of its admission.

61(1). The endorsements and certificate referred to and mentioned in sections 59 and 60 shall thereupon be copied into the margin of the register book, and the copy of the map or plan, if any, mentioned in section 21 shall be filed in Book No. 1.

61(2). The registration of the document shall thereupon be deemed complete, and the document shall then be returned to the person who presented the same for registration, or to such other person, if any, as he has nominated in writing in that behalf on the receipt mentioned in section 52.

The original does not stay at the registry. It is copied into the register and returned to the person who presented it, or to his nominee.
What stays is the copy in the book, together with the copied endorsements and the certificate, entered in the margin under Section 61(1).
Registration is complete at that moment, and from then the officer is functus officio.
The original carries the endorsements themselves. The particulars of presentation under Section 52(1)(a), the endorsements under Sections 58 and 59, and the certificate under Section 60, are written on the document.

2. The Certified Copy

Section 57, Registration Act, 1908

57(1). Subject to the previous payment of the fees payable in that behalf, Books Nos. 1 and 2 and the Index relating to Book No. 1 shall be at all times open to inspection by any person applying to inspect the same; and, subject to the provisions of section 62, copies of entries in such books shall be given to all persons applying for such copies.

57(2). Subject to the same provisions, copies of entries in Book No. 3 and in the Index relating thereto shall be given to the persons executing the documents to which such entries relate, or to their agents, and after the death of the executants, but not before, to any person applying for such copies.

57(3). Subject to the same provisions, copies of entries in Book No. 4 and in the Index relating thereto shall be given to any person executing or claiming under the documents to which such entries respectively refer, or to his agent or representative.

57(4). The requisite search under this section for entries in Books Nos. 3 and 4 shall be made only by the registering officer.

57(5). All copies given under this section shall be signed and sealed by the registering officer, and shall be admissible for the purpose of proving the contents of the original documents.

Book 1 is open to everybody. That is the whole point of a registration system: any person dealing with immovable property may search the register and take copies.
Book 3 is not, during the testator's lifetime. A will is a private disposition until death, and Section 57(2) protects it until then.
Book 4 is restricted to those concerned, being the miscellaneous register of documents not relating to immovable property.
The copy must be signed and sealed. That is what makes it a certified copy.
Section 57(5) gives it its evidentiary character, for the purpose of proving the contents of the original.

3. The Two Compared

	The original	The certified copy
Where it is	Returned to the party on completion of registration, Section 61(2)	Issued by the registration office from the entry in the register, Section 57
What it carries	The endorsements under Sections 52, 58 and 59, and the certificate under Section 60	The copied text of the document and of the endorsements, signed and sealed
The statutory words	Section 60(2): the certificate is admissible to prove that the document has been duly registered	Section 57(5): admissible for the purpose of proving the contents of the original
Its character	A private document in the hands of the party	A certified copy of a public document, the register being kept by a public officer
Under the Sakshya Adhiniyam	Primary evidence, Section 57	Secondary evidence, Section 58; proof by Section 76; presumption of genuineness by Section 78
Who may obtain it	The person who presented the document, or his nominee, Section 61(2)	Books 1 and 2 and the Index to Book 1: any person. Book 3: the executant in his lifetime, anyone after his death. Book 4: those executing or claiming under
If the original is lost	The loss must be proved	The copy is then receivable, Section 60 of the Sakshya Adhiniyam
What it proves	Itself, and, through the endorsements, the facts they record	The contents of the original
What neither proves	That the executant had title	The same. The register records what was executed, not what was owned

4. The Evidence Provisions

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, in substance

57. Primary evidence means the document itself produced for the inspection of the Court.

58. Secondary evidence includes, among other things, certified copies given under the provisions hereinafter contained, and copies made from the original by mechanical processes which in themselves ensure the accuracy of the copy.

60. Secondary evidence relating to documents may be given in the cases there enumerated, which include the case where the original has been destroyed or lost, or where it is in the possession of the person against whom the document is sought to be proved and he does not produce it after notice.

74. Documents are divided into public and private documents. Public documents include the records of the acts of public officers.

75. Every public officer having the custody of a public document which any person has a right to inspect shall give that person on demand a certified copy.

76. Such certified copies may be produced in proof of the contents of the public documents or parts of the public documents of which they purport to be copies.

78. The Court shall presume every document purporting to be a certificate, certified copy or other document which is by law declared to be admissible as evidence of any particular fact to be genuine, provided it is substantially in the form and purports to be executed in the manner directed by law.

The register is the record of the acts of a public officer, and so a public document within Section 74.
A certified copy of it is therefore proved by Section 76, and the court presumes its genuineness under Section 78.
Section 57(5) of the Registration Act is a separate and independent source of admissibility, in its own terms.
Secondary evidence is not admissible merely because a certified copy exists. Where the original is in the party's own possession, he must produce it; Section 60 of the Sakshya Adhiniyam sets out the cases in which the copy may be given instead.

5. What a Certified Copy Does Not Prove

⚠ A copy proves contents, not execution and not title

A certified copy establishes what the register contains. It does not, by itself, prove that the person named as executant in fact executed the document, and where execution is seriously denied the party must still prove the deed in the ordinary way. What helps him is the material the register preserves: the endorsements under Section 58, which record the signature and addition of every person admitting execution and of the identifying witnesses; the endorsement under Section 59, dated and signed by the registering officer; and the certificate under Section 60, which is admissible to prove that the facts mentioned in the Section 59 endorsements occurred as mentioned. Still less does a certified copy prove title. The register records what was executed and presented, not what the executant owned.

6. Practical Uses of the Certified Copy

1. Searching the title. Book 1 and its index are open to any person, and a search of them is the ordinary first step before a purchase.

2. Replacing a lost original. Where the original is lost or destroyed, the certified copy is receivable under Section 60 of the Sakshya Adhiniyam.

3. Proving contents where the original is with the opposite party, who does not produce it after notice.

4. Establishing constructive notice. Explanation I to Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 fixes a later purchaser with notice of a registered instrument, and the certified copy is how the earlier instrument is put before the court.

5. Proving a will after the testator's death, where a copy was registered and the original is not forthcoming, Section 57(2) opening Book 3 after death.

6. Producing the record of a refusal. Book 2 is open to inspection, and copies of the reasons recorded under Sections 71 and 76 may be taken.

7. The Common Errors

Supposing the original stays at the registry. It is copied and returned under Section 61(2).
Supposing a certified copy may be had of any entry by anybody. Books 1 and 2 are open to all; Book 3 is closed during the testator's lifetime, and Book 4 is restricted.
Supposing a certified copy is primary evidence. It is secondary evidence, though it is admissible in its own right under Section 57(5) of this Act.
Supposing secondary evidence may be given whenever a certified copy exists. The cases in Section 60 of the Sakshya Adhiniyam must first be made out.
Supposing a certified copy proves execution. It proves the contents of the register.
Supposing a certified copy proves title. Nothing issued by a registration office does.
Supposing the certificate under Section 60 and the certified copy under Section 57 are the same thing. One is an endorsement on the document; the other is a copy issued from the register.

8. The Position Stated Shortly

1. On completion of registration the document is copied into the register and the original returned to the person who presented it, Section 61(2).

2. Books 1 and 2 and the index to Book 1 are open to inspection by any person, and copies are given to all applicants, Section 57(1).

3. Copies of entries in Book 3 are given to the executants in their lifetime, and to anyone after their death, Section 57(2).

4. Copies of entries in Book 4 are given to persons executing or claiming under the documents, Section 57(3).

5. Every copy is signed and sealed, and is admissible for the purpose of proving the contents of the original, Section 57(5).

6. The register is a public document under Section 74 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023; a certified copy of it is proved under Section 76 and presumed genuine under Section 78.

7. The original is primary evidence under Section 57 of that Act; the certified copy is secondary evidence under Section 58.

8. Secondary evidence may be given only in the cases set out in Section 60 of that Act, of which loss of the original is one.

9. A certified copy proves contents, not execution, and where execution is denied the deed must still be proved.

10. Neither the original nor the certified copy proves title; the register records what was executed and presented, not what was owned.