Order XIX Rule 5 CPC: Redacting or Rejecting Evidence
Order 19 Rule 5 empowers a court dealing with a commercial dispute of specified value to redact portions of an examination-in-chief affidavit that do not constitute evidence, or to return or reject an affidavit that does not constitute admissible evidence. The court must record its reasons in writing.
Updated: 13 October 2026
Text of Order XIX Rule 5
5. Redacting or rejecting evidence.—A Court may, in its discretion, for reasons to be recorded in writing—
(i) redact or order the redaction of such portions of the affidavit of examination-in-chief as do not, in its view, constitute evidence; or
(ii) return or reject an affidavit of examination-in-chief as not constituting admissible evidence.
Meaning and legal effect
Redaction means removing or directing removal of particular passages from an affidavit. Under clause (i), the court can target portions that do not constitute evidence while leaving the remaining material to be considered according to law.
Return or rejection under clause (ii) concerns an affidavit of examination-in-chief that the court considers not to constitute admissible evidence. This is a more extensive intervention than removing isolated passages.
Reasons in writing are expressly required for the exercise of either power. The rule confers discretion, not an automatic direction to reject every defective affidavit.
How the rule operates in commercial suits
The court examines whether the contents of the examination-in-chief affidavit are evidentiary in nature and admissible. Where only particular passages are objectionable, redaction may address the defect; where the affidavit itself does not constitute admissible evidence, the court may return or reject it. The decision depends on the contents of the affidavit, the governing rules of evidence and the court's reasoned order.
Order XIX Rule 6 also regulates affidavit format. In particular, Rule 6(b) permits the court to strike out an affidavit, or parts of it, if it merely reproduces pleadings or contains the legal grounds of a party's case. Rule 6(d) requires identification of statements based on personal knowledge and those based on information or belief, including the source of the latter.
Related CPC provisions
Order XVIII Rule 4: deals with recording examination-in-chief by affidavit, with additional provisions for commercial disputes under the Commercial Courts Act.
Order XIX Rules 1 to 3: deal with proof by affidavit, attendance of deponents for cross-examination, and matters to which affidavits should be confined.
Order XIX Rule 4: permits the commercial court to regulate evidence and, for recorded reasons, exclude evidence that would otherwise be produced.
Order XIX Rule 6: prescribes format and content guidelines for affidavits of evidence in applicable commercial proceedings.
Official legislation and further reading
Read the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (official India Code PDF), particularly Section 16 and the Schedule amending Order XIX, and the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (official statutory text).
This article is general legal information; applicability and procedure may depend on the nature of the dispute and applicable court rules.