In Brief
The appellant (defendant) sought to prove the validity of a registered Will dated 30 November 1987 in a land mutation dispute. The original Will had been produced in an earlier case but was lost through administrative oversight when not retained by the trial court. The Additional District Judge allowed the appellant to adduce additional evidence through certified copies and produce the original Will. The High Court reversed this order. The Supreme Court held that a litigant cannot be punished for loss of evidence caused by no fault of their own, and remanded the case for the trial court to consider the additional evidence and decide the suit afresh.
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