Under Section 57 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam,

Solution

Section 57 of the BSA defines: "Primary evidence means the document itself produced for the inspection of the Court." The Explanations clarify: (1) Multi-part documents: each part is primary evidence of the whole; (2) Counterpart documents: each counterpart is primary evidence against the executing parties; (3) Documents made by uniform process (printing, lithography): each copy is primary evidence of other copies; but if all are copies of a common original, none is primary evidence of the original. The statutory framework prioritizes original documents as primary evidence. The counterpart principle (Explanation 2) addresses documents executed by different parties—each executed copy is primary evidence against that party because they executed it. This ensures document authenticity through original production.