Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891

This Act changes the ordinary law of evidence for one narrow purpose: it lets a certified copy of an entry in a bank's own books be used as evidence in court, instead of requiring the original ledger to be produced or a bank officer to testify about it. Section 1 sets the title and extends the Act to the whole of Pakistan. Section 2 defines the key terms — "bank"/"banker" (companies, partnerships, or individuals carrying on banking business, including post office savings banks), "bankers' books" (ledgers, day-books, cash-books, account-books, and similar records used in ordinary bank business), and "certified copy" (a copy bearing a dated certificate, signed by the bank's principal accountant or manager, confirming it is a true copy made in the ordinary course of business and that the original book remains in the bank's custody).

Section 3 lets the provincial government extend the Act's coverage to any partnership or individual banker that keeps at least a cash-book, day-book/journal, and ledger. Section 4 is the operative rule: a certified copy is admitted as prima facie evidence of the entry and of the matters, transactions, and accounts it records, to the same extent the original entry would be.

Sections 5 and 6 protect banks from routine disruption: a bank officer cannot be compelled to produce the books or testify in a proceeding the bank itself is not a party to, unless a Court or Judge orders it for special cause; but a Court or Judge can order inspection and copying of entries, or order the bank to prepare and produce certified copies (with a certificate that no other relevant entries exist), with at least three clear days' notice to the bank before the order must be obeyed, and the bank may still offer to produce the books at trial or object before that deadline. Section 7 leaves the costs of any such application to the Court's discretion, including ordering a bank to pay costs caused by its own fault or delay, enforceable as if it were a money decree.

This is an 1891 Act still in force, and the extract itself carries footnotes showing repeated amendment over the following century — by a 1893 amending Act, a 1900 amending Act, Adaptation Orders in 1937, 1949, and 1961, a 1960 Ordinance, and a 1975 Regulation extending it to the former tribal areas. The specific wording of the definitions and extent clause has changed more than once, so treat any fine textual detail as subject to confirmation against the current official text.