Order 19 Rule 1 CPC: Power to Order Any Point to Be Proved by Affidavit
Order XIX Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) empowers a civil court, for sufficient reason, to permit particular facts to be proved through an affidavit or to allow a witness's affidavit to be read at the hearing. The rule also protects a party's genuine request to cross-examine an available witness.
Text of Order XIX Rule 1 CPC
Power to order any point to be proved by affidavit. Any Court may at any time for sufficient reason order that any particular fact or facts may be proved by affidavit, or that the affidavit of any witness may be read at the hearing, on such conditions as the Court thinks reasonable:
Provided that where it appears to the Court that either party bona fide desires the production of a witness for cross-examination, and that such witness can be produced, an order shall not be made authorizing the evidence of such witness to be given by affidavit.
Meaning and scope of Rule 1
Affidavit means a written statement of facts sworn or affirmed before an authorized person. Under Rule 1, affidavit evidence is not an automatic substitute for oral testimony. The court must identify a sufficient reason and may impose reasonable conditions.
The words "at any time" allow the court to consider an appropriate order at different stages of the proceedings, subject to the governing procedural rules and the circumstances of the case. The permission relates to particular facts or the affidavit of a witness; it is not an unrestricted right of a litigant to prove every disputed fact only by affidavit.
Conditions for permitting proof by affidavit
The court should be satisfied that there is a sufficient reason for using an affidavit, consider which facts are to be proved and specify any reasonable conditions. The rule is discretionary, so the necessity and fairness of the proposed procedure matter.
Right to cross-examine a witness
The proviso is a substantive safeguard. If either party genuinely wishes to have a witness produced for cross-examination and the witness can be produced, the court must not make an order under Rule 1 authorizing that witness's evidence to be given by affidavit in place of that opportunity. Whether the request is bona fide and the witness is producible depends on the facts before the court.
Related CPC provisions
Order XIX Rule 2: Attendance of deponent for cross-examination
Rule 2 addresses evidence by affidavit upon an application and permits the court, at the instance of either party, to order the attendance of the deponent for cross-examination. Its operation should be considered alongside Rule 1, not as eliminating the express protection in Rule 1's proviso.
Order XIX Rule 3: Matters to which affidavits shall be confined
Rule 3 generally requires affidavits to be confined to facts within the deponent's own knowledge. In interlocutory applications, statements based on belief may be admitted where the grounds of belief are stated, subject to the rule and applicable practice.
Order XVIII Rule 4: Recording evidence
Order XVIII Rule 4 provides for examination-in-chief of a witness on affidavit in the ordinary trial-evidence framework, with cross-examination and re-examination governed by that provision. It serves a different procedural context from the court's discretionary power under Order XIX Rule 1.
Practical significance
A party seeking an order under Rule 1 should identify the precise facts proposed to be proved by affidavit, explain the sufficient reason and address any likely need for cross-examination. A party opposing affidavit-only proof may explain why the witness is available and why examination in person is genuinely required.
Official legal references
Read the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 on India Code and consult the applicable High Court rules and amendments for local procedural requirements. The statutory text and any applicable amendments prevail over this explanatory article.
This article is general legal information and does not replace advice based on the facts of a particular case.