signifies merely that it cannot be discovered. But, the party who wanted to place reliance on the secondary evidence, made a search with such diligence as was reasonable upon the facts of the case. The evidence of a document being lost, upon which secondary evidence may be given of its contents, may vary much according to the nature of the document, the custody it is in, and indeed the surrounding circumstances of the particular matter before the Court. In order to admit secondary evidence, it is important to bear in mind the nature of the document, the enquiries made about the original, and the evidence about the search and loss. If an instrument be lost, the party seeking to give secondary evidence of its contents, must give some evidence that the original existed once and must then establish its loss by proof that a search has been unsuccessfully made for it, in the place or places where it was most likely to be found and of persons likely to have possession of the same. So, the party must show that, in good faith, he has exhausted reasonable source of information and means of discovery which the nature of the case would naturally suggest. Loss can never be proved absolutely and evidence regarding loss of the document by the person in whose custody the document ought to be, is yet to be established during trial. But, at this stage, a bare statement of person required to file document on affidavit that the document was lost, would be sufficient to permit to lead secondary evidence.
