Public Documents (Sections 74-76):
All documents are private (S. 75), except the following, which are public documents, viz.
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1. Documents forming the acts or records of the acts:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(i) Of the sovereign authority,
(ii) Of official bodies and tribunals, and
(iii) Of public officers, legislative, judicial and executive, of any part of India or of the Commonwealth or of a foreign country.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
2. Public records kept in any State of private documents. (S. 74):
Certified copies of public documents (S. 76):
Every public officer having the custody of a public document (which any person has a right to inspect) must, on demand and payment of legal fees therefor, give a copy of it with a certificate (dated, signed and sealed) at the foot that it is a true copy. A copy so certified is called a ‘certified copy’.
Explanation:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
An officer is deemed to have custody of a document who, by the ordinary course of official duty, is authorised to deliver certified copies of it.
