Chapter 26

The Examination of Documents

Having summoned the parties by the king's order, he should investigate according to justice: a document by the rules for documents, and witnesses by the rules for witnesses. // K_266 //

A document that is endowed with proper letters, sentences, and action, is unambiguous, has clear letters, and is without missing sequences or marks, attains validity. // K_267 //

A document that is in accordance with local custom, includes the year, month, half-month, and interest, and bears the signatures of the debtor, witnesses, and scribe, is called a valid document. // K_268 //

When letters are out of place, not in line, ambiguous, or lacking proper form, then the document becomes a forged document. // K_269 //

A document that is contrary to local custom, is ambiguous, lacks proper sequence, is made by one who is not the owner, or is deficient in its object, is flawed. // K_270 //

A document made by one who is intoxicated, under the influence of fraud, frightened, insane, afflicted, or by women, children, and dependent persons, does not become valid. // K_271 //

If it is announced on the second day and no one objects, then it shall be valid proof, except for that made by an intoxicated or insane person. // K_272 //

A document may be flawed due to a defect in the witnesses or the scribe, or due to a fraudulent defect on the part of the creditor or the debtor. // K_273 //

A document becomes flawed through flawed parties; it should be declared pure through pure ones. That document is flawed by fraudulent witnesses, scribe, and maker. // K_274 //

Whatever defects there are in the evidence must be stated by the litigant. Hidden defects are to be revealed by the assessors at the proper time by showing the scriptures. // K_275 //

The ways in which witnesses, the scribe, and the maker become fraudulent—in those ways, the defects should be alleged. A document is vitiated by flawed parties. // K_276 //

When the defendant says, "It was not written by the scribe, nor was it seen by the witnesses," it is declared a forged document. // K_277 //

One should not invalidate a proof with a falsehood, but only with a genuine defect. In a false accusation, one shall be punished and shall also lose the object of the claim. // K_278 //

When a document is thus challenged in the king's court where it is being adjudicated, he should determine the defects of the document after deliberating with Brahmins. // K_279 //

That by which the witnesses, scribe, and maker become fraudulent, by that the document becomes flawed. Its purity should be determined by pure ones. // K_280 //

A document written by the creditor in his own hand, without witnesses, would be forged if the maker does not acknowledge that it was made by him. // K_281 //

If the debtor denies his own signature on the document, it should be proven by the witnesses named in the document or by the opinion of the scribe. // K_282 //

In disputes about whether a document was made or not, the decision is by the witnesses to the document. If the document is challenged, the plaintiff should name those who are mentioned in it. // K_283 //

Doubt arises for men concerning all three types of documents. It should therefore be resolved by the statements of the debtor, witnesses, and scribe. // K_284 //

If the scribe, along with the witnesses, has met his death, the document's authenticity should be cleared by their handwriting and other signs; there is no doubt in this. // K_285 //

In case of doubt about the debtor's handwriting, whether he is alive or dead, the decision about that document is made by other documents written in his own hand. // K_286 //

Even if a document is sealed, if all those involved are dead, that written document is proof, even when they are dead. // K_287 //

Direct perception is never invalidated by inference. Therefore, the decision regarding a flawed document shall be by the words of the witnesses. // K_288 //

For the sake of his own wealth, one may challenge the document himself. A written document should be refuted by another written document, and one with witnesses by witnesses. // K_289 //

In a claim of forgery, a document may be cleared by the statement of the witnesses and the scribe. He who does not clear the forgery shall be made to pay the highest fine. // K_290 //

A debt which is not demanded from a wealthy person who is nearby, by one who is able, that document, due to the suspicion of a cleared debt, becomes weak. // K_291 //

A document that is past thirty years, and has not been seen or mentioned, does not attain validity, even if the witnesses are still present. // K_292 //

In a transaction where interest has ceased, if one does not show the document or demand payment from the debtor, it does not attain validity. // K_293 //

That which is established by a subsequent document should be investigated with care. If it is endowed with sound reasoning, then the written document is proof. // K_294 //

Otherwise, the matter should be set aside and decided anew. That which was established as true when it was false, due to a confusion of knowledge, that proof is to be reversed, even if made by kings with great effort. // K_295 //

A royal grant that is pure in its seal, pure in its procedure, pure in its possession, and bearing proper marks, and pure by the king's own hand, attains purity. // K_296 //

A document that is flawless and well-known attains validity. // K_297 //

If, upon seeing the document, the debtor has not stated its obvious defects, then the document, having stood for twenty years, becomes firm. // K_298 //

When an asset is enjoyed for twenty years by means of a document in the presence of a capable owner, that document is free from defect. // K_299 //

If a pledge has been enjoyed for a definite period of twenty years by means of that document, its validity is established, free from defects in the document. // K_300 //

When a boundary dispute has been settled, a document of boundaries is prepared. Defects in it may be alleged for up to twenty years. // K_301 //

Where a debt, along with a pledge, is recorded in a document, it is considered proof even with dead witnesses in cases of minor enjoyment. // K_302 //

If something has been received by him, or if a gift has been made but not specified, a document without a seal is proof, even with dead witnesses. // K_303 //

If something has been received or a public declaration has been made, the written document is indeed proof, even if the witnesses are dead. // K_304 //

A document that has been shown, acknowledged, and reminded of from time to time is valid everywhere, even if the witnesses are dead. // K_305 //

A written document is never invalidated by divine ordeals or by witnesses. The law of the document is always superior; hence, it is not invalidated by another. // K_306 //

The procedure of a document may be refuted by a corresponding counter-document or by one that is superior to it, but it can never be refuted by anything else. // K_307 //

Just as an image in a mirror, though unreal, appears real, so do skillful people create copies of documents. // K_308 //

A document which, after receiving a thing, is given to another; one that is hidden and overwritten by another; one that is kept in another's house... // K_309 //

...when a thing has been given or a transaction has occurred, sometimes preceded by a written instrument—this same rule is to be known for the determination of a document's purity. // K_310 //

He who forges a document concerning immovable property, a sale, or a pledge, upon being duly convicted, should be made deprived of his tongue, hands, and feet. // K_311 //

A document that has been damaged by stains, burnt, torn, or faded, or that has been effaced by sweat, should be caused to be rewritten. // K_312 //