ORDER Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Addi¬tional Government Advocate for the opposite parties. The peti¬tioner has prayed for a direction to opposite parties 2 to 4 to grant the certified copy of Station Diary Entry No. 208 dated 8.9.1998 made in the Station Diary maintained by the Cantonment Police Station, Cuttack. It is stated that though application for issuance of certified copy was made on 1.12.2000, no such copy is being granted and non-consideration of the application of the petitioner for grant of certified copy for a long period, in fact, amounts to denial of grant of such certified copy. 2. The moot question is whether such a certified copy can be granted. Secs. 74 to 78 of the Indian Evidence Act deal with “public documents”. Sec. 74 is extracted hereunder : “ 74. Public Documents. -The following documents are public documents : (1) Documents forming the facts or records of the acts, - (i) of the sovereign authority, (ii) of official bodies and tribunals, and (iii) of public officers, legislative, judicial and execu¬tive, of any part of India or of the Commonwealth, or of a for¬eign country; (2) Public records kept in any State of private documents.” Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that sta¬tion diary entries are documents forming the records of the acts of public officers, as envisaged under Sec. 74 (1) (iii). He has relied upon the decision reported in A.I.R. 1925 Allahabad, 413 (Mohan Singh v. Emperor), where First Information Report was considered to be a ‘public document’. Similar logic can be extended to the entries in a station diary. Learned counsel appearing for the State has also fairly submitted that station diary entry can be considered to be a public document as envis¬aged under Sec. 74 of the Indian Evidence Act. 3. Sec. 76 of the Indian Evidence Act is as follows : “ 76. Similar logic can be extended to the entries in a station diary. Learned counsel appearing for the State has also fairly submitted that station diary entry can be considered to be a public document as envis¬aged under Sec. 74 of the Indian Evidence Act. 3. Sec. 76 of the Indian Evidence Act is as follows : “ 76. Certified copies of public documents - Every public officer having the custody of a public docu¬ment, which any person has a right to inspect, shall give that person on demand a copy of it on payment of the legal fees therefor, together with a certificate written at the foot of such copy that it is a true copy of such document or part there¬of, as the case may be, and such certificate shall be dated and subscribed by such officer with his name and his official title, and shall be sealed, whenever such officer is authorised by law to make use of a seal; and such copies so certified shall be called certified copies. Explanation. - Any officer who, by the ordinary course of official duty, is authorized to deliver such copies, shall be deemed to have the custody of such documents within the meaning of this section.” A perusal of the aforesaid provision makes it clear that on payment of legal fees, the public officer having the custody of public document is to grant certified copy. Keeping in view the provisions contained in Sec. 76 including the Explanation, there cannot be any doubt that certified copy of the Station Diary Entry should have been granted. 4. In aforesaid view of the matter, the writ application is allowed and opposite parties 2 and 4 are directed to grant certi¬fied copy of the Station Diary Entry to the petitioner within a period of ten days from the date of communication of the present order. This order shall be communicated to opposite parties 2 and 4. Requisites shall be filed by Tuesday (19.2.2001). Application allowed.