578 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
(i) Estoppel by Record is recognised by the law of India. It is dealt with:
(a) By the Code of Civil Procedure. Sections 11-4.
(b) By the Evidence Act. Sections 40-44.
3. Estoppel by Deed.
Under the English Law a party to a deed cannot, in any action between him and the other party, setup the contrary of his assertion in that deed. This rule affords an illustration of the exaggerated importance of a ‘seal’ in English law. Neither sealing wax nor wafter is necessary to constitute a seal. Apparently, a smudge of ink on document purporting to be a deed is a seal if so intended, and it makes a greater importance in law than a deliberate and identifiable signature. There is no estoppel in the case of ordinary signed documents.
The strict technical doctrine of Estoppel by Deed cannot be said to exist in India.
But while the technical doctrine has no application in this country, statements in documents are, as admissions, always evidence against the parties. In some cases such a statement amounts to a mere admission of more or less evidential value according to circumstances, but not conclusive. In other cases namely those in which the other party has been induced to alter his position upon the faith of the statement contained in the document, such a statement will operate as an estoppel. In this view of the matter, an estoppel arising from a deed or other instrument is only a particular application of that estoppel by conduct or misrepresentation under Section 115.
An estoppel does not arise under the Evidence Act merely because a statement is contained in a deed. It can work an estoppel only when it can fall with section 115.
I All. 403.
II Bom. 708.
- A Recital in a deed may be merely an admission or it may be estoppel according to circumstances.