Does marking a document as an exhibit during the trial of a civil suit amount to proof of the contents of that document?

No. Marking as an exhibit only records that the document was produced; it does not dispense with the requirement, under the law of evidence, that its contents be proved by primary or secondary evidence. Admission of a document in evidence is not the same as admission of its truth.

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order XIII Rule 3 — Rejection of documents — Marking as exhibit not proof of contents — Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order XIII Rule 3 — Threshold rejection of documents — Held: A document already marked and exhibited during trial cannot be rejected at the threshold under Order XIII Rule 3 CPC unless it is prima facie inadmissible in law or irrelevant to the matters in issue; an objection that goes only to its evidentiary weight must be examined at the final hearing, not screened out midway. (¶9) Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — Proof of documents — Marking as exhibit distinct from proof of contents — Held further: Marking a document as an exhibit, even without objection, only records its production; it does not amount to proof of its contents, which must still be established through primary or secondary evidence in accordance with law. (¶11) Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order XIII Rule 3 — Objections on admissibility to be decided at final judgment — Held further: Following the deferred-objection procedure for evidence-stage disputes, an objection to admissibility should ordinarily be noted and the document tentatively marked, leaving the court to rule on admissibility only while deciding the case finally; premature exclusion at the threshold defeats this object. Appeal dismissed. (¶10, 13)

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