Admissions
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Admissions Section 17 to 23 Definition of “admission” – Section 17 – “An “An admission is a statement, oral or documentary, which suggests any inference as to any fact in issue or relevant fact, and which is made by any of the persons, and under the circumstances, hereinafter mentioned.” The nature and relevance of admission stated in Sec 31 –
“Admissions not conclusive proof, but ma estop - Admissions are not conclu conclusiv sivee proof proof of the matters matters admitted admitted but they may operate operate as estoppels under the provisions hereinafter contained.” This implied that when an admission is proved against a person, he is still allowed to show the admission was wrongly made. Evidence to rebut, or prove that it was wrongly made may be given by the person who made the statement which is being proved against him! may be given. !stoppel !stoppel of admission admission – "hen the person to whom an admission is made made believe believess it and acts upon upon it# the ma$er ma$er of the admiss admission ion is prohibited or estopped from showing that the admission is wrongly made. %owever, as per section &', this does not change the fact that admissions are not conclusive proof of the matters admitted. Therefore, the estoppel prevents the person who allegedly made the admission from denying the fact that he made it. Denial Denial of statem statement entss made made b part part A in an earlier earlier plaint plaint is permissible permissible in a subse"uen subse"uentt plaint# plaint# – BASANT SINGH v. JANKI SINGH -
() holds that - *pposing parties may use these statements from the previous plaint against party A, but party is entitled to show that the statements statements were not true. Also, Also, these admissions admissions in prior proceedings proceedings cannot be regarded as conclusive. The court also held that all statements made in the previous plaint are admissible as evidence though the court is not bound to accept them as correct. (ome of the statement may be re+ected as well. The general rule regarding admissions is that an admission must be selfharming eceptions being stated in section '!. The words underlined hereunder are where this rule is inferredSection 21 - “ Admissions are relevant and may be proved proved as against the person who makes them, them, or his representative in interest# but they cannot be proved by or on behalf of the person who ma$es them or by his representative in interest, ecept in the following cases -
'! An admission may be proved by or on behalf of the person ma$ing it, when it is of such a nature that, if the person ma$ing it were dead, it would be relevant as between third persons under section &. ! An admission may be proved by or on behalf of the person ma$ing it, when it consists of a statement of the eistence of any state of mind or body, relevant or in issue, made at or about the time when such state of mind or body eisted, and is accompanied by conduct rendering its falsehood improbable. &! An admission may be proved by or on behalf of the person ma$ing it, if it is re le levant oth er erwise than as an a dm dmissi on on.” Thus, Thus, it is only under under these these ecept eceptions ions that a person person may use an admission made by a person in his fa vor as evidenceSub $lause 2% The statement to be proved by the person ma$ing them, in his own favor-
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/ust /ust be mad madee when when the the stat statee of of mind mind or bod body y eis eisted ted,, /ust /ust be be of a reg regar ardi ding ng ei eist sten ence ce of of a state state of min mind d or bod body y relevant or in issue. / us ust be a cc cc om omp an an ie ie d b y c o nd nd uc uc t w hi hi cch h r en en de der s t he he falsehood of the admission as improbable
Sub clause 3 – "hen a statement made in an account boo$ maintained by a party proves the e istence or non-eistence of a disputed fact, the person maintaining the account boo$ may produce it as evidence and it shall be considered relevant, despite it being self-serving, due to the provisions of section &0. Section 1& –
(ection (ection '1 is self-eplanat self-eplanatory ory.. 2t basically basically states who can ma$e an admission admission for the purposes purposes of a proceeding proceeding in court. 2t includes the accused in a criminal case and both parties in a civil case. 2t includes admissions made by a partner, provided that the admission was made during the subsistence of the partnership, unless made by an e-partner in regard to a matter, which came up while he was still a partner. The
person always has to be ma$ing the statement in his capacity as a representative of the party to the suit. (ince agency is a contractual relationship, minors cannot be an agent. A guardian to a minor cannot come within the ambit of “agent”. 3either can co-defendants. A principle and surety are also not included in this phrase.
(ection '1 '! - *nly Admissions made during the continuance of “proprietary or pecuniary interest” is relevant. 2ncludes co-defendants. (ection '1! – 4erived interest in the sub+ect matter of the proceeding, eample, an heir to a property. 5ased on the principle that an interested party would not ma$e a statement against himself during the continuance of such interest. The derived interest must be strictly established. The person from whom the interest is derived must ma$e the admission. Setions !" and #$ are e%eptions to the r&le o' privity( sine total strangers make them b&t in the ir&mstanes mentioned in the two setions( their statements beome relevant. Section 1' – “(tatements made by persons whose position or liability it is necessary to prove as against any party to the suit, are admissions, if such statements would be relevant as against such persons in relation to such position or liability in a suit brought by or against them, and if they are made whilst the person ma$ing them occupies such position or is sub+ect to such liabilit y.”
The admission has to be made -
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5y persons whose position or liability it is necessary to prove as against any party to the suit The statement made has to be relevant as against a party to a suit, with regard to the position or liability of the party to the suit to a third party. “2f they are made whilst the person ma$ing them occupies such position or is sub+ect to such liability”–The statement is only relevant if the person ma$ing it is still occupying the position or is still sub+ect to the liability. Eample, if the 6uestion is whether A was a collector for a landlord 5, then a statement made by a tenant of 5 with regard to A being a collector is relevant.
Section 2( – “(tatements made by persons to whom a party to the suit has epressly referred for information in reference to a matter in dispute are admissions.”
2n effect, this allows statements made by a third party against the person who had made the reference to the third party in order to prove a fact. 2n other words, if in the course of proceedings under A and 5, if A refers to ) in order to ascertain a matter in dispute, only statements made by ) as against A are relevant. This is also in conformity with the rule that statements made by a person can only be proved against him, ecept in this case, where statements made by a third party )! who has been referred to by A which incriminate A are relevant as the person who had been referred to in good faith chose to ma$e an a dmission as against A. This is because any third party can be referred to by a person in order to help prove his side of the story, however, if the third party chooses to be impartial in the proceedings, any statements made against the party ma$ing the reference regarding the matter in dispute is relevant. Any deviation from this would result in a misuse of the reference to a third party. (tatements- “*ral or 4ocumentary” – 2f the admission is an oral statement then the person ma$ing it can be as$ed whether he made the statement. 2f the person denies it, one may prove him wrong through someone who had heard him ma$e the statement. "hen admissions are irrelevant – (ection “)hen oral admissions as to contents of documents are relevant *ral admissions as to the contents of a document are not relevant, unless and until the party proposing to prove them shows that he is entitled to give secondary evidence of the contents of such document under the rules hereinafter contained, or unless the genuineness of a document produced is in 6uestion.”
(ection &“Admissions in civil cases, *hen relevant- 2n civil cases no admission is relevant, if it is made either upon an epress condition that evidence of it is not to be given, or under circumstances from which the )ourt can infer that the parties agreed together that evidence of it should not be given.” This section ma$es admissions made in the course of an attempt to reach an out-of-court settlement or negotiation irrelevant for the purpose of an y proceedings between the same parties with regard to the sub+ect matter in 6uestion. This is because they would bring pre+udice against the party.
“Admissions not conclusive proof, but ma estop - Admissions are not conclu conclusiv sivee proof proof of the matters matters admitted admitted but they may operate operate as estoppels under the provisions hereinafter contained.” This implied that when an admission is proved against a person, he is still allowed to show the admission was wrongly made. Evidence to rebut, or prove that it was wrongly made may be given by the person who made the statement which is being proved against him! may be given. !stoppel !stoppel of admission admission – "hen the person to whom an admission is made made believe believess it and acts upon upon it# the ma$er ma$er of the admiss admission ion is prohibited or estopped from showing that the admission is wrongly made. %owever, as per section &', this does not change the fact that admissions are not conclusive proof of the matters admitted. Therefore, the estoppel prevents the person who allegedly made the admission from denying the fact that he made it. Denial Denial of statem statement entss made made b part part A in an earlier earlier plaint plaint is permissible permissible in a subse"uen subse"uentt plaint# plaint# – BASANT SINGH v. JANKI SINGH -
() holds that - *pposing parties may use these statements from the previous plaint against party A, but party is entitled to show that the statements statements were not true. Also, Also, these admissions admissions in prior proceedings proceedings cannot be regarded as conclusive. The court also held that all statements made in the previous plaint are admissible as evidence though the court is not bound to accept them as correct. (ome of the statement may be re+ected as well. The general rule regarding admissions is that an admission must be selfharming eceptions being stated in section '!. The words underlined hereunder are where this rule is inferredSection 21 - “ Admissions are relevant and may be proved proved as against the person who makes them, them, or his representative in interest# but they cannot be proved by or on behalf of the person who ma$es them or by his representative in interest, ecept in the following cases -
'! An admission may be proved by or on behalf of the person ma$ing it, when it is of such a nature that, if the person ma$ing it were dead, it would be relevant as between third persons under section &. ! An admission may be proved by or on behalf of the person ma$ing it, when it consists of a statement of the eistence of any state of mind or body, relevant or in issue, made at or about the time when such state of mind or body eisted, and is accompanied by conduct rendering its falsehood improbable. &! An admission may be proved by or on behalf of the person ma$ing it, if it is re le levant oth er erwise than as an a dm dmissi on on.” Thus, Thus, it is only under under these these ecept eceptions ions that a person person may use an admission made by a person in his fa vor as evidenceSub $lause 2% The statement to be proved by the person ma$ing them, in his own favor-
-
/ust /ust be mad madee when when the the stat statee of of mind mind or bod body y eis eisted ted,, /ust /ust be be of a reg regar ardi ding ng ei eist sten ence ce of of a state state of min mind d or bod body y relevant or in issue. / us ust be a cc cc om omp an an ie ie d b y c o nd nd uc uc t w hi hi cch h r en en de der s t he he falsehood of the admission as improbable
Sub clause 3 – "hen a statement made in an account boo$ maintained by a party proves the e istence or non-eistence of a disputed fact, the person maintaining the account boo$ may produce it as evidence and it shall be considered relevant, despite it being self-serving, due to the provisions of section &0. Section 1& –
(ection (ection '1 is self-eplanat self-eplanatory ory.. 2t basically basically states who can ma$e an admission admission for the purposes purposes of a proceeding proceeding in court. 2t includes the accused in a criminal case and both parties in a civil case. 2t includes admissions made by a partner, provided that the admission was made during the subsistence of the partnership, unless made by an e-partner in regard to a matter, which came up while he was still a partner. The
person always has to be ma$ing the statement in his capacity as a representative of the party to the suit. (ince agency is a contractual relationship, minors cannot be an agent. A guardian to a minor cannot come within the ambit of “agent”. 3either can co-defendants. A principle and surety are also not included in this phrase.
(ection '1 '! - *nly Admissions made during the continuance of “proprietary or pecuniary interest” is relevant. 2ncludes co-defendants. (ection '1! – 4erived interest in the sub+ect matter of the proceeding, eample, an heir to a property. 5ased on the principle that an interested party would not ma$e a statement against himself during the continuance of such interest. The derived interest must be strictly established. The person from whom the interest is derived must ma$e the admission. Setions !" and #$ are e%eptions to the r&le o' privity( sine total strangers make them b&t in the ir&mstanes mentioned in the two setions( their statements beome relevant. Section 1' – “(tatements made by persons whose position or liability it is necessary to prove as against any party to the suit, are admissions, if such statements would be relevant as against such persons in relation to such position or liability in a suit brought by or against them, and if they are made whilst the person ma$ing them occupies such position or is sub+ect to such liabilit y.”
The admission has to be made -
-
5y persons whose position or liability it is necessary to prove as against any party to the suit The statement made has to be relevant as against a party to a suit, with regard to the position or liability of the party to the suit to a third party. “2f they are made whilst the person ma$ing them occupies such position or is sub+ect to such liability”–The statement is only relevant if the person ma$ing it is still occupying the position or is still sub+ect to the liability. Eample, if the 6uestion is whether A was a collector for a landlord 5, then a statement made by a tenant of 5 with regard to A being a collector is relevant.
Section 2( – “(tatements made by persons to whom a party to the suit has epressly referred for information in reference to a matter in dispute are admissions.”
2n effect, this allows statements made by a third party against the person who had made the reference to the third party in order to prove a fact. 2n other words, if in the course of proceedings under A and 5, if A refers to ) in order to ascertain a matter in dispute, only statements made by ) as against A are relevant. This is also in conformity with the rule that statements made by a person can only be proved against him, ecept in this case, where statements made by a third party )! who has been referred to by A which incriminate A are relevant as the person who had been referred to in good faith chose to ma$e an a dmission as against A. This is because any third party can be referred to by a person in order to help prove his side of the story, however, if the third party chooses to be impartial in the proceedings, any statements made against the party ma$ing the reference regarding the matter in dispute is relevant. Any deviation from this would result in a misuse of the reference to a third party. (tatements- “*ral or 4ocumentary” – 2f the admission is an oral statement then the person ma$ing it can be as$ed whether he made the statement. 2f the person denies it, one may prove him wrong through someone who had heard him ma$e the statement. "hen admissions are irrelevant – (ection “)hen oral admissions as to contents of documents are relevant *ral admissions as to the contents of a document are not relevant, unless and until the party proposing to prove them shows that he is entitled to give secondary evidence of the contents of such document under the rules hereinafter contained, or unless the genuineness of a document produced is in 6uestion.”
(ection &“Admissions in civil cases, *hen relevant- 2n civil cases no admission is relevant, if it is made either upon an epress condition that evidence of it is not to be given, or under circumstances from which the )ourt can infer that the parties agreed together that evidence of it should not be given.” This section ma$es admissions made in the course of an attempt to reach an out-of-court settlement or negotiation irrelevant for the purpose of an y proceedings between the same parties with regard to the sub+ect matter in 6uestion. This is because they would bring pre+udice against the party.
