Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 · Order XIII: Production, Impounding And Return Of Documents

Order XIII Rule 10 CPC: Court may send for papers from its own records or from other Courts

Bare Act text

10. Court may send for papers from its own records or from other Courts.—(1) The Court may of its own motion, and may in its discretion upon the application of any of the parties to a suit, send for, either from its own records or from any other Court, the record of any other suit or proceeding, and inspect the same.

(2) Every application made under this rule shall (unless the Court otherwise directs) be supported by an affidavit showing how the record is material to the suit in which the application is made, and that the applicant cannot without unreasonable delay or expense obtain a duly authenticated copy of the record or of such portion thereof as the applicant requires, or that the production of the original is necessary for the purposes of justice.

(3) Nothing contained in this rule shall be deemed to enable the Court to use in evidence any document which under the law of evidence would be inadmissible in the suit.

Text of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act No. 5 of 1908), First Schedule, as amended, including the changes for commercial disputes made by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. Source: India Code, Government of India.

In simple words

The Court may, of its own motion or on a party's application in its discretion, send for and inspect the record of any other suit or proceeding, from its own records or from any other Court. Unless the Court directs otherwise, an application must be supported by an affidavit showing how the record is material and that a duly authenticated copy cannot be obtained without unreasonable delay or expense, or that the original is necessary for the purposes of justice. The rule does not allow the Court to use in evidence any document that would be inadmissible under the law of evidence.