Rule 19: Cases in which High Court may issue commission to examine witness—
(1) If a High Court is satisfied—
(a) that a foreign Court situated in a foreign country wishes to obtain the evidence of a witness in any proceeding before it,
(b) that the proceeding is of a civil nature, and
(c) that the witness is residing within the limits of the High Court’s appellate jurisdiction,
it may, subject to the provisions of Rule 20, issue a commission for the examination of such witness.
(2) Evidence may be given of the matters specified in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-rule (1)—
(a) by a certificate signed by the consular officer of the foreign country of the highest rank in India and transmitted to the High Court through the Central Government, or
(b) by a letter of request issued by the foreign Court and transmitted to the High Court through the Central Government, or
(c) by a letter of request issued by the foreign Court and produced before the High Court by a party to the proceeding.
Rule 20: Application for issue of commission—
The High Court may issue a commission under Rule 19—
(a) upon application by a party to the proceeding before the foreign Court, or
(b) upon an application by a law officer of the State Government acting under instructions from the State Government.
Rule 21: To whom commission may be issued—
A commission under Rule 19 may be issued to any Court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the witness resides, or, where the witness resides within the local limits of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Court, to any person whom the Court thinks fit to execute the commission.
Rule 22: Issue, execution and return of commissions, and transmission of evidence to foreign Court—
The provisions of Rules 6, 15, sub-rule (1) of Rules 16-A, 17, 18 and 18-B of this Order in so far as they are applicable shall apply to the issue, execution and return of such commissions, and when any such commission has been duly executed it shall be returned, together with the evidence taken under it, to the High Court, which shall forward it to the Central Government, along with the letter of request for transmission to the foreign court.
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