Calcutta High Court Appellate Side Rules
Affidavits
22. Every affidavit to be used in a Court of Justice shall be instituted “In the Court of ……………………… at ………………,” naming such court.
23. If there be a cause in court, the affidavit in support of, or in opposition to, an application respecting it shall also be instituted in the cause.
24. If there be no cause in court, the affidavit shall be instituted “In the matter of the petition of ………………………….”.
25. Every affidavit containing any statement of fact shall be divided into paragraphs, and every paragraph shall be numbered consecutively and, as nearly as may be, shall be confined to a distinct portion of the subject.
26. Every person, other than a plaintiff or defendant in a suit in which the application is made, making any affidavit, shall be described in such a manner as will serve to identify him clearly, that is to say, by the statement of his full name, the name of his father, his profession or trade, and the place of his residence.
27. When the declarant in any affidavit speaks to any fact within his own knowledge, he shall do so directly and positively using the words “I affirm (or ‘make oath’) and say”.
28. When the particular fact is not within the declarant’s own knowledge, but is stated from information obtained from others, the declarant shall use the expression “I am informed,” and if such be the case, should add “and verily believe it to be true”, and he must also state the source from which he received such information. When the statement rests on facts disclosed in documents or copies of documents procured from any Court of Justice or other source, the deponent shall state what is the source from which they were procured, and his information or belief as to the truth of the facts disclosed in such documents. Copies of documents (other than those on the record of the case) to which it is intended that reference should be made at the time of hearing shall be annexed to the affidavit and shall be marked as an exhibit and shall bear the certificate of the Commissioner before whom the affidavit is made.
29. Every person making an affidavit, if not personally known to the Commissioner, shall be identified to the Commissioner by some person known to him, and the Commissioner shall specify at the foot of the application or of the affidavit (as the case may be) the name – and description of him by whom the identification is made, as well as the time and place of the identification, and of the making of the affidavit. Every pardanashin woman verifying an application or making an affidavit in the manner specified in the preceding rules and every such application or affidavit shall be accompanied by the affidavit of identification of such woman made at the time by the person who identified her.
30. If any person making an affidavit shall be ignorant of the language in which it is written, or shall appear to the Commissioner to be illiterate, or not fully to understand the contents of the affidavit, the Commissioner shall cause the affidavit to be read and explained to him in a language which both he and the Commissioner understand, either doing so himself, or causing another person to do so in his presence. When any affidavit is read and explained as herein provided, the Commissioner shall certify in writing at the foot of the affidavit that it has been so read or explained; and that the declarant seemed perfectly to understand the same at the time of making the affidavit.
31. In administering oaths and affirmations to declarants, the Commissioner shall be guided by the provisions of the Oaths Act, X of 1873. The following Forms are to be used:
Oaths
I swear that this my declaration is true, that it conceals nothing, and that no part of it is false, so help me God.
Affirmation
I solemnly declare that this my declaration is true, that it conceals nothing, and that no part of it is false.
32. If an officer of the court has been appointed a Commissioner to administer oaths or affirmations and also to interpret affidavits filed under this Chapter, the following Form of Affirmation should be used:”Solemnly affirmed before me this day. I certify that I read over and explained the contents to the declarant and that the declarant seemed perfectly to understand them.”
33. Fees. – No fee is allowed for taking affidavits or affirmations in the Court house, but fees are allowed to Commissioners for taking such affidavits or affirmations elsewhere. [See Note 4 to Rule 6, Chapter XII.]
34. (i) No document being an exhibit to an affidavit or verified petition or forming the materials for any application shall be given back unless the document be an original document in which case it may be taken back on an order of the Registrar, a certified copy of the original document being retained in the file.
(ii) When any such document is itself a certified copy it shall not be returned:
Provided that the Registrar may, in exceptional cases, and upon an application supported by an affidavit setting out the grounds upon which the return is asked for order the return thereof upon such conditions as he thinks fit.