1. Power to order any point to be proved by affidavit.—Any Court may at any time for sufficient reason order that any particular fact or facts may be proved by affidavit, or that the affidavit of any witness may be read at the hearing, on such conditions as the Court thinks reasonable:
Provided that where it appears to the Court that either party bona fide desires the production of a witness for cross-examination, and that such witness can be produced, an order shall not be made authorising the evidence of such witness to be given by affidavit.
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.
The Court may at any time, for sufficient reason, order that particular facts be proved by affidavit, or that a witness's affidavit be read at the hearing, on conditions it thinks reasonable. The proviso limits this power: if the Court sees that a party bona fide wants a witness produced for cross-examination and the witness can be produced, it cannot order that witness's evidence to be given by affidavit.
