Whether quarrelsome talk of wife can be proved through admission of CD in evidence?

 This naturally takes us to an inquisitive question whether the
production and admission of the CD in evidence by the mere force of
Section 14 of the Evidence Act are proof of the alleged quarrelsome
talk of the respondent. Mere admission of a document in evidence,
whether it be electronic or otherwise, will not discharge the burden of
the party proposing evidence from proving the contents also. What
Section 14 of the Act enacts is not any special rule of evidence as
certain other special statues do. A document merely marked with or
without consent of the opposite party in a proceeding before a Family
Court is no proof at all unless the contents thereof are either
admitted by the adverse party or proved through the persons who
can vouch for the truth of the facts. This is an elementary principle of
proof flawing from principles of natural justice, logic fairness and
expediency dehors the provisions of the Evidence Act. We are of the

opinion that Family Courts cannot take any exception to this binding
fundamental rule of evidence and therefore, the CD produced before
the Family Court cannot be said to be proved unless the contents are
also proved despite its admission in evidence. Section 14 of the Act
as evident from the very language of the Section itself only relaxes
observance of the rules of relevancy and admissibility of evidence
rather than dispensing with the very fundamental principles of
evidence and natural justice or proof of contents of a document.
15. The purported voice of respondent extracted in the CD in
our opinion has to be proved in the same manner as a tape recorded
conversation. The petitioner can succeed in proving the alleged
riotous dialogue in the CD only when the identity of the speaker is
also proved. Proof of the accuracy of the statement recorded is
another essential requirement in the matter of proof of a tape
recorded conservation. The court accepting the evidence must rule
out that no tampering was made while the statement was recorded.
These are only some of the guidelines in the matter of proof of
contents of the CD. Elaborate discussion as to how a tape recorded
conservation could be proved is decipherable from Ram Singh and
others V. Col.Ram Singh, (AIR 1986 SC 3), Yusufalli Esmail
Nagree (AIR 1968 SC 147) and Sunil Panchal Vs. State of

Rajasthan, (MANU/RH/0987/2016 ). Unless all the essential
conditions above are satisfied, contents of the CD produced by the
petitioner cannot be said to be proved despite its admission in
evidence by the mere force of Section 14 of the Act.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT


OP (FC).No. 513 of 2018

PRAMOD E.K. Vs LOUNA V.C.


Coram:
C.K.ABDUL REHIM
&
T.V.ANILKUMAR, JJ.


Dated:14th day of January 2019.
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