Where a statutory duty exists to record consents in a register, the absence of an entry in that register is evidence that no consent was granted. The presumption of regularity (that public officers discharged their duties) applies equally to the duty to record consents as to the duty to obtain them, and thus cuts both ways. Where facts are peculiarly within the defendant's knowledge and the plaintiff establishes sufficient evidence from which the negative proposition may be inferred, the defendant carries an evidential burden to produce evidence rebutting the inference.
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