Civil Suits and Ways and Means For Quicker Disposal of Civil Suits

Civil Suits and Ways and Means For Quicker Disposal of Civil Suits

In a recent case, issue was related to Order VIII Rule 1 read with Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and the condonation of delay in filing the written statement.

It was held thus :

"It had become a tendency of the defendants to prolong the trial of the case and to drag the proceedings as long as possible, since prolonging of the proceedings itself results in defeating justice. In order to curb this tendency, amendments were made in Civil Procedure Code and while the written statement should be filed within 30 days, extension of time for filing written statement beyond 30 days but within 90 days should be given if reasonable grounds are shown by the defendant and the Court is satisfied with those grounds. Beyond 90 days, the Court is not powerless in extending the time for filing written statement but this discretion must be exercised only in exceptional cases so that the procedure does not defeat the substantive justice."

Order 7 Rule 11 proceedings are independent of the filing of a WS, and that the liberty to file an application for rejection u/o 7 Rule 11  cannot be made as a ruse fore retrieving the lost opportunity to file the WS.

The Order through which the application to condone the delay was dismissed was found to be valid and proper.

Citation : Amulaya Chawla v. Anil Kumar Gupta [2026] GCtR 359 (Delhi)