Amandeep Singh And Ors vs Kamalveer Singh And Ors
2022 Latest Caselaw 11806 P&H

344
      IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
                     CHANDIGARH

                                                CR-3205-2022 (O&M)
                                                Date of Decision : 21.09.2022

Amandeep Singh & Others                                          ....Petitioners

                                    VERSUS

Kamalveer Singh & Others                                       ....Respondents


CORAM : HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE ALKA SARIN


Present :    Mr. Ketan Chopra, Advocate for the petitioners.

             Mr. Pritpal Singh Miglani, Advocate for respondent Nos.1 & 2.

                                        -.-

ALKA SARIN, J. (Oral)

The present revision petition has been filed under Article 227

of the Constitution of India impugning the order dated 29.04.2022 whereby

the defense of the petitioners has been struck off.

Learned counsel for the petitioners would contend that counsel

appearing in the Court below did not inform the petitioners and hence the

written statement could not be filed.

Per contra, learned counsel for the respondent has contended

that 11 opportunities were availed by the petitioners from 25.11.2019 till

21.10.2021 before the impugned order was passed on 29.04.2022 striking

off the defense of the defendant-petitioners.

Heard.

In the present case, the opportunities to file the written

statement have been granted primarily during the COVID period. Further

the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in the case of Desh Raj vs. Balkishan (D)

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CR-3205-2022 (O&M) -2-

through proposed LR Ms. Rohini [(2020) RCR (Civil) 807] has held as

under :

"ANALYSIS & CONCLUSION

11. At the outset, it must be noted that the Commercial

Courts Act, 2015 through Section 16 has amended the

CPC in its application to commercial disputes to

provide as follows:

"16. Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure,

1908 in its application to commercial disputes - (1)

The provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure,

1908 (5 of 1908) shall, in their application to any

suit in respect of a commercial dispute of a

Specified Value, stand amended in the manner as

specified in the Schedule.

(2) The Commercial Division and Commercial

Court shall follow the provisions of the Code of

Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), as amended by

this Act, in the trial of a suit in respect of a

commercial dispute of a specified value.

(3) Where any provision of any Rule of the

jurisdictional High Court or any amendment to the

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, by the State

Government is in conflict with the provisions of the

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), as

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CR-3205-2022 (O&M) -3-

amended by this Act, the provisions of the Code of

Civil Procedure as amended by this Act shall

prevail."

12. Hence, it is clear that post coming into force of the

aforesaid Act, there are two regimes of civil procedure.

Whereas commercial disputes [as defined under Section

2(c) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015] are governed

by the CPC as amended by Section 16 of the said Act;

all other noncommercial disputes fall within the ambit

of the unamended (or original) provisions of CPC.

13. The judgment of Oku Tech (supra) relied upon the

learned Single Judge is no doubt good law, as recently

upheld by this Court in SCG Contracts India Pvt. Ltd. v.

KS Chamankar Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., AIR 2019 SC

2691, but its ratio concerning the mandatory nature of

the timeline prescribed for filing of written statement

and the lack of discretion with Courts to condone any

delay is applicable only to commercial disputes, as the

judgment was undoubtedly rendered in the context of a

commercial dispute qua the amended Order VIII Rule 1

CPC.

14. As regard the timeline for filing of written

statement in a non-commercial dispute, the observations

of this Court in a catena of decisions, most recently in

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CR-3205-2022 (O&M) -4-

Atcom Technologies Ltd. v. Y.A. Chunawala and Co.,

(2018) 6 SCC 639 holds the field. Unamended Order

VIII Rule I, CPC continues to be directory and does not

do away with the inherent discretion of Courts to

condone certain delays."

In view of the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court

as well as the fact that most of the adjournments were during the period of

the Covid-19 Pandemic and in order to impart complete justice, the present

revision petition is allowed and one more opportunity is granted to the

petitioners to file their written statement within a week from the passing of

this order subject to the payment of Rs.30,000/- as costs to be paid to the

respondents. It is made clear that in case the written statement is not filed

within a week from today, the present revision petition shall be deemed to

have been dismissed. Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed off.

September 21, 2022                                    (ALKA SARIN)
tripti                                                   JUDGE

NOTE : Whether speaking/non-speaking : Speaking Whether reportable : YES/NO

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