Secondary evidence

Secondary evidence.--Secondary evidence means and includes-

1. (1) certified copies given under the provisions hereinafter contained;
2. (2) copies made from the original by mechanical processes which in themselves insure the accuracy of the copy, and copies compared with such copies;
3. (3) copies made from or compared with the original;
4. (4) counterparts of documents as against the parties who did not execute them;
5. (5) oral accounts of the contents of a document given by some person who has himself seen it. Illustrations.
   • (a) A photograph of an original is secondary evidence of its contents, though the two have not been compared, if it is proved that the thing photographed was the original.
   • (b) A copy, compared with a copy of a letter made by a copying machine is secondary evidence of the contents of the letter, if it is shown that the copy made by the copying machine was made from the original.
   • (c) A copy transcribed from a copy, but afterwards compared with the original is secondary evidence; but the copy not so compared is not secondary evidence of the original, although the copy from which it was transcribed was compared with the original.
   • (d) Neither an oral account of a copy compared with the original, nor an oral account of a photograph or machine-copy of the original, is secondary evidence of the original.