Rule 17 of CPC : Rule 17: Production of shop-book.

Explanation using Example

Example 1:

Scenario: Ramesh owns a small grocery store in Mumbai. He sells goods on credit to his customers and maintains a shop-book where he records all transactions. One of his regular customers, Suresh, has an outstanding balance of ₹10,000 according to Ramesh's shop-book. Despite multiple reminders, Suresh refuses to pay the amount.

Application of Rule 17: Ramesh decides to file a lawsuit against Suresh to recover the outstanding amount. According to Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, Ramesh must produce the shop-book entry that shows Suresh's debt at the time of filing the plaint. Ramesh submits the shop-book along with a copy of the relevant entry to the court.

The court officer marks the original shop-book entry for identification, examines the copy, and compares it with the original. Once the court officer verifies that the copy is accurate, they certify it and return the original shop-book to Ramesh. The certified copy is then filed with the court as evidence in the case.

Example 2:

Scenario: Priya runs a boutique in Delhi and maintains an account book for all her transactions. She provided designer dresses worth ₹50,000 to a client, Anjali, who promised to pay within a month. However, Anjali fails to make the payment even after several months.

Application of Rule 17: Priya decides to take legal action against Anjali to recover the ₹50,000. When filing the plaint, Priya includes the account book entry that records the transaction with Anjali. She also provides a copy of this entry to the court.

The court or its appointed officer marks the original account book entry for identification purposes. They then examine and compare the copy with the original entry. After confirming that the copy is accurate, the court officer certifies it and returns the original account book to Priya. The certified copy is filed with the court as part of the evidence in Priya's lawsuit against Anjali.