FIRM BALMUKUND PURAN MALL Vs. FIRM FATEH CHAND DHARAMCHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application in revision by the plaintiff firm directed against the order dated the 19th April, 1963, of the court below granting permission to the defendants to inspect the entire Bahi Khatas of the petitioner except the entries which may relate to the plaintiff's secret business in respect of which a list was directed to be filed by 22-4-63.

(2.) The plaintiff has filed the suit for obtaining the decree against the defendants for a sum of Rs. 1416.53 paise as per accounts given in the plaint from their account books. It is doubtful whether strictly speaking, in view of the provisions of law contained in Section 34 of the Evidence Act, it can be said that the entries in the books of account of the plaintiff's firm are the basis of the suit. But, to all intents and purposes and according to the well know practice prevailing in the courts below, for the purposes of production and inspection of documents such entries are generally treated as the basis of the suit. It is because of that the procedure prescribed in Rule 17 of Order 7 of the Civil Procedure Code, hereinafter called the Code, is followed and so was this procedure followed in this case too. Thereafter, the defendants applied for inspection of the Bahi Khatas, as it appears, under Sub-rule (1) of Rule 18 of Order 11 of the Code. I take it that this must have been done after following the procedure prescribed in Rule 15 of Order 11 of the Code. Be that as it may. the court directed the plaintiff to produce the Bahi Khatas for the relevant years in question for inspection of the defendants. The Bahi Khatas were produced and a controversy arose between the parties when they were being inspected. According to the plaintiff, the defendants were entitled to inspect only the relevant entries in the Bahi Khatas which related to their transaction while according to the defendants, they were entitled to inspect any part of theirs. The court below has by and large, made the order in favour of the defendants. The plaintiffs, therefore, has come up in revision.

(3.) Order 11, Rule 18 (1) reads as follows: