Case: ARJUN PANDITRAO KHOTKAR Vs. KAILASH KUSHANRAO GORANTYAL AND ORS.

3. The brief facts necessary to appreciate the controversy in the present case, as elucidated in Civil Appeals 20825-20826 of 2017, are as follows:i. Two election petitions were filed by the present Respondents before the Bombay High Court under Sections 80 and 81 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, challenging the election of the present Appellant, namely, Shri Arjun Panditrao Khotkar (who is the Returned Candidate [hereinafter referred to as the RC] belonging to the Shiv Sena party from 101-Jalna Legislative Assembly Constituency) to the Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly for the term commencing November, 2014. Election Petition No.6 of 2014 was filed by the defeated Congress (I) candidate Shri Kailash Kishanrao Gorantyal, whereas Election Petition No.9 of 2014 was filed by one Shri Vijay Chaudhary, an elector in the said constituency. The margin of victory for the RC was extremely narrow, namely 296 votes - the RC having secured 45,078 votes, whereas Shri Kailash Kishanrao Gorantyal secured 44,782 votes.ii. The entirety of the case before the High Court had revolved around four sets of nomination papers that had been filed by the RC. It was the case of the present Respondents that each set of nomination papers suffered from defects of a substantial nature and that, therefore, all four sets of nomination papers, having been improperly accepted by the Returning Officer of the Election Commission, one Smt. Mutha, (hereinafter referred to as the RO), the election of the RC be declared void. In particular, it was the contention of the present Respondents that the late presentation of Nomination Form Nos. 43 and 44 by the RC - inasmuch as they were filed by the RC after the stipulated time of 3.00 p.m. on 27.09.2014 - rendered such nomination forms not being filed in accordance with the law, and ought to have been rejected.iii. In order to buttress this submission, the Respondents sought to rely upon video-camera arrangements that were made both inside and outside the office of the RO. According to the Respondents, the nomination papers were only offered at 3.53 p.m. (i.e. beyond 3.00 p.m.), as a result of which it was clear that they had been filed out of time. A specific complaint making this objection was submitted by Shri Kailash Kishanrao Gorantyal before the RO on 28.09.2014 at 11.00 a.m., in which it was requested that the RO reject the nomination forms that had been improperly accepted. This request was rejected by the RO on the same day, stating that the nomination forms had, in fact, been filed within time.4. Given the fact that allegations and counter allegations were made as to the time at which the nomination forms were given to the RO, and that videography was available, the High Court, by its order dated 16.03.2016, ordered the Election Commission and the concerned officers to produce the entire record of the election of this Constituency, including the original video recordings. A specific order was made that this electronic record needs to be produced along with the necessary certificates.5. In compliance with this order, such video recordings were produced by the Election Commission, together with a certificate issued with regard to the CDs/VCDs, which read as follows:This is to certify that the CDs in respect of video recording done on two days of filing nomination forms of date 26.9.2014 and 27.9.2014 which were present in the record are produced.Sd/- Asst. Returning Officer 101 Jalna Legislative Assembly Constituency/Tahsildar JalnaSd/- Returning Officer 101 Jalna Legislative Assembly Constituency/Tahsildar Jalna6. Transcripts of the contents of theseCDs/VCDs were prepared by the High Court itself. Issue nos.6 and 7 as framed by the High Court (and its answers to these issues) are important, and are set out in the impugned judgment dated 24.11.2017, and extracted hereinbelow:6. Whether the petitioner proves that the nomination papers at Sr. Nos. 43 and 44 were not presented by respondent/ Returned candidate before 3.00 p.m. on 27/09/2014 ?Affirmative. (nomination papers at Sr. Nos. 43 and 44 were not presented by RC before 3.00 p.m. of 27.9.2014.)7. Whether the petitioner proves that the respondent /Returned candidate submitted original forms A and B along with nomination paper only on 27/09/2014 after 3.00 p.m. and along with nomination paper at Sr. No. 44 ?Affirmative. (A, B forms were presented after 3.00 p.m. of 27.9.2014)7. In answering issues 6 and 7, the High Court recorded:60. Many applications were given by the petitioner of Election Petition No. 6/2014 to get the copies of electronic record in respect of aforesaid incidents with certificate as provided in section 65-B of the Evidence Act. The correspondence made with them show that even after leaving of the office by Smt. Mutha, the Government machinery, incharge of the record, intentionally avoided to give certificate as mentioned in section 65-B of the Evidence Act. After production of the record in the Court in this regard, this Court had allowed to Election Commission by order to give copies of such record to applicants, but after that also the authority avoided to give copies by giving lame excuses. It needs to be kept in mind that the RC is from political party which has alliance with ruling party, BJP, not only in the State, but also at the center. It is unfortunate that the machinery which is expected to be fair did not act fairly in the present matter. The circumstances of the present matter show that the aforesaid two officers tried to cover up their mischief. However the material gives only one inference that nomination forms Nos. 43 and 44 with A, B forms were presented before the RO by RC after 3.00 p.m. of 27.9.2014 and they were not handed over prior to 3.00 p.m. In view of objection of the learned counsels of the RC to using the information contained in aforesaid VCDs, marked as Article A1 to A6, this Court had made order on 11.7.2017 that the objections will be considered in the judgment itself. This VCDs are already exhibited by this Court as Exhs. 70 to 75. Thus, if the contents of the aforesaid VCDs can be used in the evidence, then the petitioners are bound to succeed in the present matters.. The High Court then set out Sections 65-A and 65-B of the Evidence Act, and referred to this Courts judgment in Anvar P.V. (supra). The Court held in paragraph 65 of the impugned judgment that the CDs that were produced by the Election Commission could not be treated as an original record and would, therefore, have to be proved by means of secondary evidence. Finding that no written certificate as is required by Section 65-B(4) of the Evidence Act was furnished by any of the election officials, and more particularly, the RO, the High Court then held:69. In substantive evidence, in the cross examination of Smt. Mutha, it is brought on the record that there was no complaint with regard to working of video cameras used by the office. She has admitted that the video cameras were regularly used in the office for recording the aforesaid incidents and daily VCDs were collected of the recording by her office. This record was created as the record of the activities of the Election Commission. It is brought on the record that on the first floor of the building, arrangement was made by keeping electronic gazettes like VCR players etc. and arrangement was made for viewing the recording. It is already observed that under her instructions, the VCDs were marked of this recording. Thus, on the basis of her substantive evidence, it can be said that the conditions mentioned in section 65-B of the Evidence Act are fulfilled and she is certifying the electronic record as required by section 65-B (4) of the Evidence Act. It can be said that Election Commission, the machinery avoided to give certificate in writing as required by section 65-B (4) of the Evidence Act. But, substantive evidence is brought on record of competent officer in that regard. When the certificate expected is required to be issued on the basis of best of knowledge and belief, there is evidence on oath about it of Smt. Mutha. Thus, there is something more than the contents of certificate mentioned in section 65-B (4) of the Evidence Act in the present matters. Such evidence is not barred by the provisions of section 65-B of the Evidence Act as that evidence is only on certification made by the responsible official position like RO. She was incharge of the management of the relevant activities and so her evidence can be used and needs to be used as the compliance of the provision of section 65-B of the Evidence Act. This Court holds that there is compliance of the provision of section 65-B of the Evidence Act in the present matter in respect of aforesaid electronic record and so, the information contained in the record can be used in the, therefore, on substantial compliance of the requirement of giving a certificate under Section 65B of the Evidence Act, it was held that the CDs/VCDs were admissible in evidence, and based upon this evidence it was found that, as a matter of fact, the nomination forms by the RC had been improperly accepted. The election of the RC was therefore was declared void in the impugned judgment.

Court's reasoning:
20. It will first be noticed that the subject matter of Sections 65A and 65B of the Evidence Act is proof of information contained in electronic records. The marginal note to Section 65A indicates that special provisions as to evidence relating to electronic records are laid down in this provision. The marginal note to Section 65B then refers to admissibility of electronic records.21. Section 65B(1) opens with a non-obstante clause, and makes it clear that any information that is contained in an electronic record which is printed on a paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media produced by a computer shall be deemed to be a document, and shall be admissible in any proceedings without further proof of production of the original, as evidence of the contents of the original or of any facts stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible. The deeming fiction is for the reason that document as defined by Section 3 of the Evidence Act does not include electronic records.22. Section 65B(2) then refers to the conditions that must be satisfied in respect of a computer output, and states that the test for being included in conditions 65B(2(a)) to 65(2(d)) is that the computer be regularly used to store or process information for purposes of activities regularly carried on in the period in question. The conditions mentioned in sub-sections 2(a) to 2(d) must be satisfied cumulatively.23. Under Sub-section (4), a certificate is to be produced that identifies the electronic record containing the statement and describes the manner in which it is produced, or gives particulars of the device involved in the production of the electronic record to show that the electronic record was produced by a computer, by either a person occupying a responsible official position in relation to the operation of the relevant device; or a person who is in the management of relevant activities – whichever is appropriate. What is also of importance is that it shall be sufficient for such matter to be stated to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it . Here, doing any of the following things… must be read as doing all of the following things, it being well settled that the expression any can mean all given the context (see, for example, this Courts judgments in Bansilal Agarwalla v. State of Bihar (1962) 1 SCR 33  and Om Parkash v. Union of India (2010) 4 SCC 17 ). This being the case, the conditions mentioned in sub-section (4) must also be interpreted as being cumulative.24. It is now appropriate to examine the manner in which Section 65B was interpreted by this Court. In Anvar P.V. (supra), a three Judge Bench of this Court, after setting out Sections 65A and 65B of the Evidence Act, held:14. Any documentary evidence by way of an electronic record under the Evidence Act, in view of Sections 59 and 65-A, can be proved only in accordance with the procedure prescribed under Section 65-B. Section 65-B deals with the admissibility of the electronic record. The purpose of these provisions is to sanctify secondary evidence in electronic form, generated by a computer. It may be noted that the section starts with a non obstante clause. Thus, notwithstanding anything contained in the Evidence Act, any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on a paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media produced by a computer shall be deemed to be a document only if the conditions mentioned under sub-section (2) are satisfied,without further proof or production of the original. The very admissibility of such a document i.e. electronic record which is called as computer output, depends on the satisfaction of the four conditions under Section 65-B(2). Following are the specified conditions under Section 65- B(2) of the Evidence Act:(i) The electronic record containing the information should have been produced by the computer during the period over which the same was regularly used to store or process information for the purpose of any activity regularly carried on over that period by the person having lawful control over the use of that computer;(ii) The information of the kind contained in electronic record or of the kind from which the information is derived was regularly fed into the computer in the ordinary course of the said activity;(iii) During the material part of the said period, the computer was operating properly and that even if it was not operating properly for some time, the break or breaks had not affected either the record or the accuracy of its contents; and(iv) The information contained in the record should be a reproduction or derivation from the information fed into the computer in the ordinary course of the said activity.15. Under Section 65-B(4) of the Evidence Act, if it is desired to give a statement in any proceedings pertaining to an electronic record, it is permissible provided the following conditions are satisfied:(a) There must be a certificate which identifies the electronic record containing the statement;(b) The certificate must describe the manner in which the electronic record was produced;(c) The certificate must furnish the particulars of the device involved in the production of that record;(d) The certificate must deal with the applicable conditions mentioned under Section 65-B(2) of the Evidence Act; and(e) The certificate must be signed by a person occupying a responsible official position in relation to the operation of the relevant device.16. It is further clarified that the person need only to state in the certificate that the same is to the best of his knowledge and belief. Most importantly, such a certificate must accompany the electronic record like computer printout, compact disc (CD), video compact disc (VCD), pen drive, etc., pertaining to which a statement is sought to be given in evidence, when the same is produced in evidence. All these safeguards are taken to ensure the source and authenticity, which are the two hallmarks pertaining to electronic record sought to be used as evidence. Electronic records being more susceptible to tampering, alteration, transposition, excision, etc. without such safeguards, the whole trial based on proof of electronic records can lead to travesty of justice.17. Only if the electronic record is duly produced in terms of Section 65-B of the Evidence Act, would the question arise as to the genuineness thereof and in that situation, resort can be made to Section 45-A—opinion of Examiner of Electronic Evidence.18. The Evidence Act does not contemplate or permit the proof of an electronic record by oral evidence if requirements under Section 65-B of the Evidence Act are not complied with, as the law now stands in India.xxx xxx xxx20. Proof of electronic record is a special provision introduced by the IT Act amending various provisions under the Evidence Act. The very caption of Section 65-A of the Evidence Act, read with Sections 59 and 65-B is sufficient to hold that the special provisions on evidence relating to electronic record shall be governed by the procedure prescribed under Section 65-B of the Evidence Act. That is a complete code in itself. Being a special law, the general law under Sections 63 and 65 has to yield.21. In State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu a two-Judge Bench of this Court had an occasion to consider an issue on production of electronic record as evidence. While considering the printouts of the computerised records of the calls pertaining to the cellphones, it was held at para 150 as follows: (SCC p. 714)150. According to Section 63, secondary evidence means and includes, among other things, copies made from the original by mechanical processes which in themselves insure the accuracy of the copy, and copies compared with such copies. Section 65 enables secondary evidence of the contents of a document to be adduced if the original is of such a nature as not to be easily movable. It is not in dispute that the information contained in the call records is stored in huge servers which cannot be easily moved and produced in the court. That is what the High Court has also observed at para 276. Hence, printouts taken from the computers/servers by mechanical process and certified by a responsible official of the service-providing company can be led in evidence through a witness who can identify the signatures of the certifying officer or otherwise speak of the facts based on his personal knowledge. Irrespective of the compliance with the requirements of Section 65-B, which is a provision dealing with admissibility of electronic records, there is no bar to adducing secondary evidence under the other provisions of the Evidence Act, namely, Sections 63 and 65. It may be that the certificate containing the details in sub-section (4) of Section 65-B is not filed in the instant case, but that does not mean that secondary evidence cannot be given even if the law permits such evidence to be given in the circumstances mentioned in the relevant provisions, namely, Sections 63 and 65.It may be seen that it was a case where a responsible official had duly certified the document at the time of production itself. The signatures in the certificate were also identified. That is apparently in compliance with the procedure prescribed under Section 65-B of the Evidence Act. However, it was held that irrespective of the compliance with the requirements of Section 65-B, which is a special provision dealing with admissibility of the electronic record, there is no bar in adducing secondary evidence, under Sections 63 and 65, of an electronic record.22. The evidence relating to electronic record, as noted hereinbefore, being a special provision, the general law on secondary evidence under Section 63 read with Section 65 of the Evidence Act shall yield to the same. Generalia specialibus non derogant, special law will always prevail over the general law. It appears, the court omitted to take note of Sections 59 and 65-A dealing with the admissibility of electronic record. Sections 63 and 65 have no application in the case of secondary evidence by way of electronic record; the same is wholly governed by Sections 65-A and 65-B. To that extent, the statement of law on admissibility of secondary evidence pertaining to electronic record, as stated by this Court in Navjot Sandhu case, does not lay down the correct legal position. It requires to be overruled and we do so. An electronic record by way of secondary evidence shall not be admitted in evidence unless the requirements under Section 65-B are satisfied. Thus, in the case of CD, VCD, chip, etc., the same shall be accompanied by the certificate in terms of Section 65-B obtained at the time of taking the document, without which, the secondary evidence pertaining to that electronic record, is inadmissible.23. The appellant admittedly has not produced any certificate in terms of Section 65-B in respect of the CDs, Exts. P-4, P-8, P-9, P-10, P-12, P-13, P-15, P-20 and P-22. Therefore, the same cannot be admitted in evidence. Thus, the whole case set up regarding the corrupt practice using songs, announcements and speeches fall to the ground.24. The situation would have been different had the appellant adduced primary evidence, by making available in evidence, the CDs used for announcement and songs. Had those CDs used for objectionable songs or announcements been duly got seized through the police or Election Commission and had the same been used as primary evidence, the High Court could have played the same in court to see whether the allegations were true. That is not the situation in this case. The speeches, songs and announcements were recorded using other instruments and by feeding them into a computer, CDs were made therefrom which were produced in court, without due certification. Those CDs cannot be admitted in evidence since the mandatory requirements of Section 65- B of the Evidence Act are not satisfied. It is clarified that notwithstanding what we have stated herein in the preceding paragraphs on the secondary evidence of electronic record with reference to Sections 59, 65-A and 65-B of the Evidence Act, if an electronic record as such is used as primary evidence under Section 62 of the Evidence Act, the same is admissible in evidence, without compliance with the conditions in Section 65-B of the Evidence Act.30. Coming back to Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, sub- section (1) needs to be analysed. The sub-section begins with a non- obstante clause, and then goes on to mention information contained in an electronic record produced by a computer, which is, by a deeming fiction, then made a document. This deeming fiction only takes effect if the further conditions mentioned in the Section are satisfied in relation to both the information and the computer in question; and if such conditions are met, the document shall then be admissible in any proceedings. The words …without further proof or production of the original… make it clear that once the deeming fiction is given effect by the fulfilment of the conditions mentioned in the Section, the deemed document now becomes admissible in evidence without further proof or production of the original as evidence of any contents of the original, or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible.31. The non-obstante clause in sub-section (1) makes it clear that when it comes to information contained in an electronic record, admissibility and proof thereof must follow the drill of Section 65B, which is a special provision in this behalf - Sections 62 to 65 being irrelevant for this purpose. However, Section 65B(1) clearly differentiates between the original document - which would be the original electronic record contained in the computer in which the original information is first stored - and the computer output containing such information, which then may be treated as evidence of the contents of the original document. All this necessarily shows that Section 65B differentiates between the original information contained in the computer itself and copies made therefrom – the former being primary evidence, and the latter being secondary evidence.32. Quite obviously, the requisite certificate in sub-section (4) is unnecessary if the original document itself is produced. This can be done by the owner of a laptop computer, a computer tablet or even a mobile phone, by stepping into the witness box and proving that the concerned device, on which the original information is first stored, is owned and/or operated by him. In cases where the computer, as defined, happens to be a part of a computer system or computer network (as defined in the Information Technology Act, 2000) and it becomes impossible to physically bring such network or system to the Court, then the only means of proving information contained in such electronic record can be in accordance with Section 65B(1), together with the requisite certificate under Section 65B(4). This being the case, it is necessary to clarify what is contained in the last sentence in paragraph 24 of Anvar P.V. (supra) which reads as …if an electronic record as such is used as primary evidence under Section 62 of the Evidence Act… . This may more appropriately be read without the words under Section 62 of the Evidence Act,…. With this minor clarification, the law stated in paragraph 24 of Anvar P.V. (supra) does not need to be revisited.34. Despite the law so declared in Anvar P.V. (supra), wherein this Court made it clear that the special provisions of Sections 65A and 65B of the Evidence Act are a complete Code in themselves when it comes to admissibility of evidence of information contained in electronic records, and also that a written certificate under Section 65B(4) is a sine qua non for admissibility of such evidence, a discordant note was soon struck in Tomaso Bruno (supra). In this judgment, another three Judge Bench dealt with the admissibility of evidence in a criminal case in which CCTV footage was sought to be relied upon in evidence. The Court held:24. With the advancement of information technology, scientific temper in the individual and at the institutional level is to pervade the methods of investigation. With the increasing impact of technology in everyday life and as a result, the production of electronic evidence in cases has become relevant to establish the guilt of the accused or the liability of the defendant. Electronic documents stricto sensu are admitted as material evidence. With the amendment to the Evidence Act in 2000, Sections 65-A and 65-B were introduced into Chapter V relating to documentary evidence. Section 65-A provides that contents of electronic records may be admitted as evidence if the criteria provided in Section 65-B is complied with. The computer generated electronic records in evidence are admissible at a trial if proved in the manner specified by Section 65-B of the Evidence Act. Sub-section (1) of Section 65-B makes admissible as a document, paper printout of electronic records stored in optical or magnetic media produced by a computer, subject to the fulfilment of the conditions specified in sub- section (2) of Section 65-B. Secondary evidence of contents of document can also be led under Section 65 of the Evidence Act. PW 13 stated that he saw the full video recording of the fateful night in the CCTV camera, but he has not recorded the same in the case diary as nothing substantial to be adduced as evidence was present in it.25. The production of scientific and electronic evidence in court as contemplated under Section 65-B of the Evidence Act is of great help to the investigating agency and also to the prosecution. The relevance of electronic evidence is also evident in the light of Mohd. Ajmal Amir Kasab v. State of Maharashtra [(2012) 9 SCC 1] , wherein production of transcripts of internet transactions helped the prosecution case a great deal in proving the guilt of the accused. Similarly, in State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu, the links between the slain terrorists and the masterminds of the attack were established only through phone call transcripts obtained from the mobile service providers.35. What is clear from this judgment is that the judgment of Anvar P.V. (supra) was not referred to at all. In fact, the judgment in State v. Navjot Sandhu (2005) 11 SCC 600 was adverted to, which was a judgment specifically overruled by Anvar P.V. (supra). It may also be stated that Section 65B(4) was also not at all adverted to by this judgment. Hence, the declaration of law in Tomaso Bruno (supra) following Navjot Sandhu (supra) that secondary evidence of the contents of a document can also be led under Section 65 of the Evidence Act to make CCTV footage admissible would be in the teeth of Anvar P.V., (supra) and cannot be said to be a correct statement of the law. The said view is accordingly overruled.37. It may be noted that the judgments referred to in paragraph 21 of Shafhi Mohammed (supra) are all judgments before the year 2000, when Amendment Act 21 of 2000 first introduced Sections 65A and 65B into the Evidence Act and can, therefore, be of no assistance on interpreting the law as to admissibility into evidence of information contained in electronic records. Likewise, the judgment cited in paragraph 22, namely Tukaram S. Dighole v. Manikrao Shivaji Kokate (2010) 4 SCC 329 is also a judgment which does not deal with Section 65B. In fact, paragraph 20 of the said judgment states the issues before the Court as follows:20. However, in the present case, the dispute is not whether a cassette is a public document but the issues are whether:(i) the finding by the Tribunal that in the absence of any evidence to show that the VHS cassette was obtained by the appellant from the Election Commission, the cassette placed on record by the appellant could not be treated as a public document is perverse; and(ii) a mere production of an audio cassette, assuming that the same is a certified copy issued by the Election Commission, is per se conclusive of the fact that what is contained in the cassette is the true and correct recording of the speech allegedly delivered by the respondent or his agent?The second issue was answered referring to judgments which did not deal with Section 65B at all.38. Much succour was taken from the three Judge Bench decision in Tomaso Bruno (supra) in paragraph 23, which, as has been stated hereinabove, does not state the law on Section 65B correctly. Anvar P.V. (supra) was referred to in paragraph 24, but surprisingly, in paragraph 26, the Court held that Sections 65A and 65B cannot be held to be a complete Code on the subject, directly contrary to what was stated by a three Judge Bench in Anvar P.V. (supra). It was then clarified that the requirement of a certificate under Section 64B(4), being procedural, can be relaxed by the Court wherever the interest of justice so justifies, and one circumstance in which the interest of justice so justifies would be where the electronic device is produced by a party who is not in possession of such device, as a result of which such party would not be in a position to secure the requisite certificate.39. Quite apart from the fact that the judgment in Shafhi Mohammad (supra) states the law incorrectly and is in the teeth of the judgment in Anvar P.V. (supra), following the judgment in Tomaso Bruno (supra) - which has been held to be per incuriam hereinabove - the underlying reasoning of the difficulty of producing a certificate by a party who is not in possession of an electronic device is also wholly incorrect.45. However, a caveat must be entered here. The facts of the present case show that despite all efforts made by the Respondents, both through the High Court and otherwise, to get the requisite certificate under Section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act from the authorities concerned, yet the authorities concerned wilfully refused, on some pretext or the other, to give such certificate. In a fact-circumstance where the requisite certificate has been applied for from the person or the authority concerned, and the person or authority either refuses to give such certificate, or does not reply to such demand, the party asking for such certificate can apply to the Court for its production under the provisions aforementioned of the Evidence Act, CPC or CrPC. Once such application is made to the Court, and the Court then orders or directs that the requisite certificate be produced by a person to whom it sends a summons to produce such certificate, the party asking for the certificate has done all that he can possibly do to obtain the requisite certificate. Two Latin maxims become important at this stage. The first is lex non cogit ad impossibilia i.e. the law does not demand the impossible, and impotentia excusat legem i.e. when there is a disability that makes it impossible to obey the law, the alleged disobedience of the law is excused. This was well put by this Court in Re: Presidential Poll (1974) 2 SCC 33 as follows:14. If the completion of election before the expiration of the term is not possible because of the death of the prospective candidate it is apparent that the election has commenced before the expiration of the term but completion before the expiration of the term is rendered impossible by an act beyond the control of human agency. The necessity for completing the election before the expiration of the term is enjoined by the Constitution in public and State interest to see that the governance of the country is not paralysed by non-compliance with the provision that there shall be a President of India.15. The impossibility of the completion of the election to fill the vacancy in the office of the President before the expiration of the term of office in the case of death of a candidate as may appear from Section 7 of the 1952 Act does not rob Article 62(1) of its mandatory character. The maxim of law impotentia excusat legam is intimately connected with another maxim of law lex non cogit ad impossibilia. Impotentia excusat legam is that when there is a necessary or invincible disability to perform the mandatory part of the law that impotentia excuses. The law does not compel one to do that which one cannot possibly perform. Where the law creates a duty or charge, and the party is disabled to perform it, without any default in him, and has no remedy over it, there the law will in general excuse him. Therefore, when it appears that the performance of the formalities prescribed by a statute has been rendered impossible by circumstances over which the persons interested had no control, like the act of God, the circumstances will be taken as a valid excuse. Where the act of God prevents the compliance of the words of a statute, the statutory provision is not denuded of its mandatory character because of supervening impossibility caused by the act of God. (See Brooms Legal Maxims 10th Edn. at pp. 162-163 and Craies on Statute Law 6th Edn. at p. 268).It is important to note that the provision in question in Re Presidential Poll (supra) was also mandatory, which could not be satisfied owing to an act of God, in the facts of that case. These maxims have been applied by this Court in different situations in other election cases – see Chandra Kishore Jha v. Mahavir Prasad and Ors. (1999) 8 SCC 266 (at paragraphs 17 and 21); Special Reference 1 of 2002 (2002) 8 SCC 237 (at paragraphs 130 and 151) and Raj Kumar Yadav v. Samir Kumar Mahaseth and Ors. (2005) 3 SCC 601 (at paragraphs 13 and 14).49. On an application of the aforesaid maxims to the present case, it is clear that though Section 65B(4) is mandatory, yet, on the facts of this case, the Respondents, having done everything possible to obtain the necessary certificate, which was to be given by a third-party over whom the Respondents had no control, must be relieved of the mandatory obligation contained in the said sub-section.50. We may hasten to add that Section 65B does not speak of the stage at which such certificate must be furnished to the Court. In Anvar P.V. (supra), this Court did observe that such certificate must accompany the electronic record when the same is produced in evidence. We may only add that this is so in cases where such certificate could be procured by the person seeking to rely upon an electronic record. However, in cases where either a defective certificate is given, or in cases where such certificate has been demanded and is not given by the concerned person, the Judge conducting the trial must summon the person/persons referred to in Section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act, and require that such certificate be given by such person/persons. This, the trial Judge ought to do when the electronic record is produced in evidence before him without the requisite certificate in the circumstances aforementioned. This is, of course, subject to discretion being exercised in civil cases in accordance with law, and in accordance with the requirements of justice on the facts of each case. When it comes to criminal trials, it is important to keep in mind the general principle that the accused must be supplied all documents that the prosecution seeks to rely upon before commencement of the trial, under the relevant sections of the CrPC.52. It is pertinent to recollect that the stage of admitting documentary evidence in a criminal trial is the filing of the charge-sheet. When a criminal court summons the accused to stand trial, copies of all documents which are entered in the charge-sheet/final report have to be given to the accused. Section 207 of the CrPC, which reads as follows, is mandatory . Therefore, the electronic evidence, i.e. the computer output, has to be furnished at the latest before the trial begins. The reason is not far to seek; this gives the accused a fair chance to prepare and defend the charges levelled against him during the trial. The general principle in criminal proceedings therefore, is to supply to the accused all documents that the prosecution seeks to rely upon before the commencement of the trial. The requirement of such full disclosure is an extremely valuable right and an essential feature of the right to a fair trial as it enables the accused to prepare for the trial before its commencement.54. Therefore, in terms of general procedure, the prosecution is obligated to supply all documents upon which reliance may be placed to an accused before commencement of the trial. Thus, the exercise of power by the courts in criminal trials in permitting evidence to be filed at a later stage should not result in serious or irreversible prejudice to the accused. A balancing exercise in respect of the rights of parties has to be carried out by the court, in examining any application by the prosecution under Sections 91 or 311 of the CrPC or Section 165 of the Evidence Act. Depending on the facts of each case, and the Court exercising discretion after seeing that the accused is not prejudiced by want of a fair trial, the Court may in appropriate cases allow the prosecution to produce such certificate at a later point in time. If it is the accused who desires to produce the requisite certificate as part of his defence, this again will depend upon the justice of the case - discretion to be exercised by the Court in accordance with law.56. In Kundan Singh (supra), a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court held:50. Anwar P.V. (supra) partly overruled the earlier decision of the Supreme Court on the procedure to prove electronic record(s) in Navjot Sandhu (supra), holding that Section 65B is a specific provision relating to the admissibility of electronic record(s) and, therefore, production of a certificate under Section 65B(4) is mandatory. Anwar P.V. (supra) does not state or hold that the said certificate cannot be produced in exercise of powers of the trial court under Section 311 Cr.P.C or, at the appellate stage under Section 391 Cr.P.C. Evidence Act is a procedural law and in view of the pronouncement in Anwar P.V. (supra) partly overruling Navjot Sandhu (supra), the prosecution may be entitled to invoke the aforementioned provisions, when justified and required. Of course, it is open to the court/presiding officer at that time to ascertain and verify whether the responsible officer could issue the said certificate and meet the requirements of Section 65B.. Subject to the caveat laid down in paragraphs 50 and 54 above, the law laid down by these two High Courts has our concurrence. So long as the hearing in a trial is not yet over, the requisite certificate can be directed to be produced by the learned Judge at any stage, so that information contained in electronic record form can then be admitted, and relied upon in evidence.58. It may also be seen that the person who gives this certificate can be anyone out of several persons who occupy a responsible official position in relation to the operation of the relevant device, as also the person who may otherwise be in the management of relevant activities spoken of in Sub-section (4) of Section 65B. Considering that such certificate may also be given long after the electronic record has actually been produced by the computer, Section 65B(4) makes it clear that it is sufficient that such person gives the requisite certificate to the best of his knowledge and belief (Obviously, the word and between knowledge and belief in Section 65B(4) must be read as or, as a person cannot testify to the best of his knowledge and belief at the same time).59. We may reiterate, therefore, that the certificate required under Section 65B(4) is a condition precedent to the admissibility of evidence by way of electronic record, as correctly held in Anvar P.V. (supra), and incorrectly clarified in Shafhi Mohammed (supra). Oral evidence in the place of such certificate cannot possibly suffice as Section 65B(4) is a mandatory requirement of the law. Indeed, the hallowed principle in Taylor v. Taylor (1876) 1 Ch.D 426, which has been followed in a number of the judgments of this Court, can also be applied. Section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act clearly states that secondary evidence is admissible only if lead in the manner stated and not otherwise. To hold otherwise would render Section 65B(4) otiose.60. In view of the above, the decision of the Madras High Court in K. Ramajyam (supra), which states that evidence aliunde can be given through a person who was in-charge of a computer device in the place of the requisite certificate under Section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act is also an incorrect statement of the law and is, accordingly, overruled.64. We turn now to the facts of the case before us. In the present case, by the impugned judgment dated 24.11.2017, Election Petition 6/2014 and Election Petition 9/2014 have been allowed and partly allowed respectively, the election of the RC being declared to be void under Section 100 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, inter alia, on the ground that as nomination papers at serial numbers 43 and 44 were not presented by the RC before 3.00 p.m. on 27.09.2014, such nomination papers were improperly accepted.65. However, by an order dated 08.12.2017, this Court admitted the Election Appeal of the Appellant, and stayed the impugned judgment and order.66. We have heard this matter after the five year Legislative Assembly term is over in November 2019. This being the case, ordinarily, it would be unnecessary to decide on the merits of the case before us, as the term of the Legislative Assembly is over. However, having read the impugned judgment, it is clear that the learned Single Judge was anguished by the fact that the Election Commission authorities behaved in a partisan manner by openly favouring the Appellant. Despite the fact that the reason given of substantial compliance with Section 65B(4) in the absence of the requisite certificate being incorrect in law, yet, considering that the Respondent had done everything in his power to obtain the requisite certificate from the appropriate authorities, including directions from the Court to produce the requisite certificate, no such certificate was forthcoming. The horse was directed to be taken to the water to drink - but it refused to drink, leading to the consequence pointed out in paragraph 49 of this judgment (supra).68. Thus, it is clear that apart from the evidence in the form of electronic record, other evidence was also relied upon to arrive at the same conclusion. The High Courts judgment therefore cannot be faulted.71. None of the earlier judgments of this Court referred to in Mairembam Prithviraj (supra) have been adverted to in Rajendra Kumar Meshram (supra) cited by Shri Adsure. In particular, the judgment of three learned Judges of this Court in Vashist Narain Sharma (supra) has specifically held that where the person whose nomination has been improperly accepted is the returned candidate himself, it may be readily conceded that the conclusion has to be that the result of the election would be materially affected, without there being any necessity to plead and prove the same. The judgment in Rajendra Kumar Meshram (supra), not having referred to these earlier judgments of a larger strength binding upon it, cannot be said to have declared the law correctly. As a result thereof, the impugned judgment of the High Court is right in its conclusion on this point also.