Can Plaintiff win a title civil suit without original sale deed and only xerox copies of original sale deed?

Dear Client, 

Firstly, your advocate’s claim that you cannot prove title without the original deed is incorrect, as Indian evidence law allows you to rely on a certified copy issued by the Sub-Registrar’s Office in Zamania as secondary evidence. Under Section 60/61 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, you can file an application requesting the court to accept the certified copy. To ensure the application is granted, file an online police loss report for the misplaced original deed, issue a brief public notice in a local newspaper, and submit an affidavit explaining that the original document was lost while in your lawyer’s custody.

Secondly, the court will accept the certified copy once your secondary evidence application is approved. Under Section 79 of the Evidence Act, courts draw a mandatory legal presumption in favor of official certified copies issued by a Sub-Registrar, treating them as valid, genuine, and authentic public records equivalent to the original for proving ownership.

Lastly, Your probability of securing a favorable order is very strong because the trespasser’s claim of paying five lakh rupees to a caretaker carries zero legal validity. A caretaker possesses no ownership rights and cannot transfer title under the principle of ‘nemo dat quod non habet’, meaning an illegal cash transaction or unrecorded agreement creates no rights over your land. Furthermore, your father’s registered 1989 sale deed establishes absolute title, and the trespasser cannot claim adverse possession since their occupation only began in 2019-far short of the mandatory twelve-year continuous period required by law. If your advocate remains reluctant to file for secondary evidence, consider obtaining a No Objection Certificate to engage a new lawyer immediately.

I hope this answer helps, if you have any other query kindly do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you.

Dear Client,

Your lawyer's assertion that title cannot be proved in the absence of the original deed is not correct as an absolute proposition. There are mechanisms for such contingencies through secondary evidence.

In answer to your first two queries: a certified copy of the sale deed may be obtained from the Sub-Registrar's office where it was registered in 1989, and such a copy is admissible in principle. A certified copy of a sale deed registered under Section 57(5) of the Registration Act, 1908, can be used as secondary evidence for proving the contents of the original. Section 60(c) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, states that secondary evidence is allowed when there is loss of documents without any fault or neglect on the part of the person who is trying to prove the same.

Admissibility, however, is not automatic proof. The Supreme Court in H. Siddiqui v. A. Ramalingam (2011) held that a certified copy does not prove itself , the court must be satisfied, through foundational evidence, that it is a true copy of the original, and the opposing party may contest this. It would be prudent to obtain an affidavit from your counsel accounting for the loss, move an application before the Sub-Judge seeking leave to adduce secondary evidence, and arrange a competent witness, an attesting witness, the scribe, or your father to depose to the document's authenticity. Supporting revenue records in your father's name would assist but are not a substitute for this process.

As to your prospects, we would caution against reading the law on secondary evidence as a guarantee of a favorable outcome. It removes one obstacle your counsel has raised, but the court retains discretion at each stage, and the opposing party may challenge both the certified copy and any witness testimony. 

I hope this answer helps. If you have any further query kindly do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you