Evidence Act 1950 · Updated to 1 Nov 2017 · Chapter X · Examination of Witnesses
139. Cross-examination of person called to produce a document
Feedback & supportA person summoned to produce a document does not become a witness by the mere fact that he produces it, and may not be cross-examined unless and until he is called as a witness.
document
“document” means any matter expressed, described, or howsoever represented, upon any substance, material, thing or article, including any matter embodied in a disc, tape, film, sound-track or other device whatsoever, by means of— (a) letters, figures, marks, symbols, signals, signs, or other forms of expression, description, or representation whatsoever; (b) any visual recording (whether of still or moving images); (c) any sound recording, or any electronic, magnetic, mechanical or other recording whatsoever and howsoever made, or any sounds, electronic impulses, or other data whatsoever; (d) a recording, or transmission, over a distance of any matter by any, or any combination, of the means mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), or by more than one of the means mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d), intended to be used or which may be used for the purpose of expressing, describing, or howsoever representing, that matter; A writing is a document. Words printed, lithographed or photographed are documents. A map, plan, graph or sketch is a document. Evidence 15 An inscription on wood, metal, stone or any other substance, material or thing is a document. A drawing, painting, picture or caricature is a document. A photograph or a negative is a document. A tape recording of a telephonic communication, including a recording of such communication transmitted over distance, is a document. A photographic or other visual recording, including a recording of a photographic or other visual transmission over a distance, is a document. A matter recorded, stored, processed, retrieved or produced by a computer is a document;