1 Bsb IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 8965 OF 2010 Raishi Shivji Chheda ... Petitioner v/s Dhirajlal Raishi Chheda ... Respondent ALONGWITH WRIT PETITION NO. 9439 OF 2010 Dhirajlal Raishi Chheda ... Petitioner v/s Raishi Shivji Chheda ... Respondent Mr.Jitendra G. Shukla i/by M/s.G.H.Shukla & Co. for the petitioner in W.P.No.8965/2010 and for the respondent in W.P.No.9439/2010. Mr.Induprakash i/by M/s.Sarwankar & Co. for the respondent in W.P.No.8965/2010 and for the petitioner in W.P.No. 9439/2010. CORAM: SMT.NISHITA MHATRE, J. DATED: 13TH DECEMBER, 2010 P.C.: 1. Both these petitions challenge the order passed by the learned Judge of the Small Causes Court on 27.10.2010. This 2 order has been passed on Exh.127 which is an application filed by the defendant seeking directions from the Court that the original rent receipts, which had been exhibited, should be sent to the India Security Press at Nashik for verification of the genuineness and authenticity of the revenue stamps affixed on these rent receipts. The Small Causes Court has granted the order partly as it has directed the defendant to sort out five original rent receipts in respect of which the revenue stamps are suspect so that they can be sent to the India Security Press. The Court has also directed the defendant to file an undertaking that he will not stall the proceedings before the Small Causes Court merely because the report has not been received from the India Security Press by a particular date. It is submitted on behalf of the defendant that all the rent receipts need examination as the defendant has no expertise to distinguish between fake and genuine receipts. 2. This order has also been challenged by the plaintiff in Writ Petition No.9439 of 2010. It is contended on behalf of the plaintiff that these 107 rent receipts were exhibited by the Court by its order dated 5.3.2010 and, therefore, the rent receipts which are marked at Exh.55 (Collectively) stand proved. It is also pointed out that the defendant had objected 3 to the production of these rent receipts on the ground that the plaintiff was not authorized to issue such rent receipts in his own name acting as the Constituted Attorney of the defendant. No objection has been raised by the defendant on the ground that the revenue stamps may not be genuine. 3. I have heard the parties at length. In my opinion, the submission on behalf of the plaintiff that the documents cannot be sent to the India Security Press for verification is without merit. Reliance is placed on the judgment of the Full Bench in the case of Hemandra Rasiklal Ghia v/s Subodh Mody, reported in 2008 (6) All.M.R. 352, by the learned advocate for the plaintiff. This judgment enunciates the stage at which objections to the admissibility and proof of documents must be considered by the trial Court. This judgment, in my opinion, lead to the inference that when the genuineness of the documents produced by the plaintiff is questioned by the defendant and the burden of proof shifts on the defendant to prove that the documents are not genuine, the Court cannot direct the documents be sent for examination to the appropriate authority after they are exhibited. This is not the import of the judgment of the Full Bench. 4 4. It is evident that the documents i.e. rent receipts, have been exhibited at Exh.55 (Collectively). Therefore, the plaintiff need not prove those rent receipts. However, whether those rent receipts are genuine or not would be a issue which would have to be proved by the defendant since he claims that the revenue stamps are fabricated. The only way to do this would be to ascertain the genuineness and authenticity of the stamps with the India Security Press. Therefore, the order passed by the Small Causes Court directing that the documents be sent to the India Security Press cannot be said to be perverse. However, the direction to send only five rent receipts picked out by the defendant is incorrect. Since the contention of the defendant is that the stamps affixed on all the rent receipts do not appear to be genuine, it will be necessary to send all the recent receipts for examination and scrutiny by the India Security Press. Further more, by following this procedure, the proceedings before the Trial Court will not be stalled as the defendant has been directed to furnish an undertaking in the manner provided in the impugned order. 5. In my view, therefore, Writ Petition No.9439 of 2010 must be dismissed. 5 6. Writ Petition No.8965 of 2010 is allowed and the order passed by the Trial Court is modified to the following extent:- Clause 1 of the impugned order will read as under:- All 107 rent receipts shall be sent to the India Security Press for determining the genuineness of the revenue stamps affixed on them. The rest of the order of the Trial Court remains the same. However, the report which is to be obtained from the India Security Press must be furnished to the Trial Court within one month from today. 7. The defendant to pay costs for sending the documents to the India Security press as well as the charges of the Press for the scrutiny. ..... 6