Admissibility of copy of entry as evidence

A copy of any entry in a book of a co-operative society regularly kept in the course of its business, shall, if certified in such manner as may be prescribed, be received in any suit or legal proceedings as prima facie evidence of the existence of such entry and shall be admitted as evidence of the matters, transactions and accounts therein recorded in every case where, and to the same extent as, the original entry itself is admissible. (2) No officer of a co-operative society and no officer in whose office the books of co-operative society are deposited after liquidation shall, in any legal proceedings to which the society or the liquidator is not a party, be compelled to produce any of the society’s books or documents the contents of which can be proved under this section, or to appear as witness to prove the matter, transactions and accounts therein recorded, except under an order of a court or an arbitrator made for special cause. A co-operative society receiving Government loan or subsidy or a co-operative society in which a share or shares have been subscribed or liability by way of guarantee or borrowing not less than fifty percent of the working capital of the co-operative society has been undertaken by the government shall furnish such information and submit such returns as the sanctioning authority or the Registrar may, from time to time, require.