Chander
Kanta Bansal Vs. Rajinder Singh Anand [2008] INSC 411 (11 March 2008)
Dr. Arijit Pasayat & P. Sathasivam CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1893 OF 2008 (Arising out of SLP (C) No. 6892 OF 2007) P.
Sathasivam, J.
1) Leave granted.
2) This appeal is directed against the order dated 22.11.2006 passed by the
learned single Judge of the High Court of Delhi in C.M. (Main) No. 136 of 2005
whereby the High Court allowed the petition filed by the respondent herein.
3) Brief facts:
The appellant and the respondent, being members of Adarsh Bhawan House
Building Cooperative Society, Delhi were jointly allotted a plot bearing No.
13/20, Punjabi Bagh Extension, New Delhi admeasuring 426 sq. yds. vide
perpetual lease deed dated 12.05.1981. After the allotment, the plot was partitioned
with the mutual consent of the parties. The front portion was allotted to the
appellant and the back portion was allotted to the respondent. The appellant
raised construction in the year 1983 and completed the same in the year 1984.
The respondent also started raising the construction on the back portion and
completed the same in the year 1985. Both the parties were in use and
occupation of their respective portions of the property after the respective
construction. In the year 1986, the respondent herein filed a suit for
mandatory injunction being Suit No. 261 of 1986 alleging that the drive way,
which is 10' wide from gate facing 30' road upto the road facing 15' vide
service lane at the back, has been encroached upon by the appellant and the
appellant is not permitting him to use the drive way. Written statement was
filed and the witnesses were examined. On 12.5.2004, the appellant herein filed
an application under Order VI Rule 17 read with Section 151 CPC for amendment
of written statement and sought the permission of the Court to file a written
agreement executed between the parties on 10.9.1982.
The respondent herein filed a reply to the application denying the execution
of the agreement and claimed that the same is forged and fabricated document. The
trial Court, after hearing the arguments, allowed the amendment application on
18.11.2004. Against that order, the respondent herein filed a C.M.(Main) No.
136 of 2005 before the High Court of Delhi.
By order dated 22.11.2006, the High Court allowed the petition and set aside
the order passed by the trial Court on 18.11.2004 in the amendment application.
Aggrieved by the said order, the appellant preferred the present appeal by way
of special leave before this Court.
4) Heard Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned senior counsel appearing for the
appellant and Mr. Altaf Ahmed, learned senior counsel appearing for the
respondent.
5) The respondent herein (plaintiff) filed a suit No. 261 of 1986 on the
file of Senior Sub-Judge, Delhi praying a decree for mandatory injunction
against the defendant (appellant- herein) to remove all obstructions at point
"X" and lock at point "Y" in the site plan of the property
No. 13/20, Punjabi Bagh Extn. New Delhi and also not to put the lock at main
gate of the property. In the same prayer, the plaintiff has prayed that the
defendant may further be directed not to obstruct the plaintiff, his family
members or relations from using the common drive way from point "Y"
to "Z" in the site plan. The said suit was filed on 23.05.1986, the
defendant filed a written statement even in the year 1986 itself. While so, on
12.05.2004, the defendant filed an application for amendment of written
statement under Order VI Rule 17 read with Section 151 CPC. The main reason for
seeking the amendment in the written statement is that the defendant is the
house wife and earlier was assisted by his son, namely, Sunit Gupta, who was a
Chartered Accountant. He died at the young age i.e. in 1998. According to the
defendant, he was following the litigation and the document/agreement
pertaining to the parties was in his custody. Only her another son, namely,
Navneet Agrawal searched the papers/documents of his brother Sunit Gupta and
located an agreement dated 10.09.1982. Since the said agreement is material one
and has a bearing on the dispute between the parties and the execution of the
same is admitted by the plaintiff, her application may be allowed by permitting
the defendant to raise the plea of the agreement dated 10.09.1982 is her
written statement and mark the same as a document of the defendant.
6) The said application was resisted by the plaintiff by filing an
objection. It was stated that the suit was filed by the plaintiff in the month
of May, 1986 and after more than 18 years, the present application has been
moved with a view to frustrate the claim of the plaintiff. The trial has
completed and after the final arguments when the defendant came to know that
she is going to lose her case she is changing her stance by filing the present
application for amendment in the written statement. It was further stated that
the alleged agreement/partition dated 10.09.1982, which itself is not
admissible in the eye of law wince it is a forged document and on the basis of
the said document, the proposed amendment cannot be allowed.
7) The Civil Judge, based on the claim of both the parties, particularly
accepting the explanation offered by the defendant allowed the said application
and permitted the defendant to incorporate the proposed amendments in the
written statement on payment of cost of Rs.3,000/-. Questioning the said order,
the plaintiff has filed a C.M. (Main) No. 136 of 2005 before the High Court of
Delhi. On going through the entire materials and details, namely, filing of the
suit in the year 1986, the application for amendment of written statement filed
only in 1994 and of the fact that nothing has been stated in the written
statement as well as in her evidence by the impugned order set aside the order
of the trial Court and rejected the application filed by the defendant seeking
to amend the written statement. Aggrieved by the said order of the High Court,
the defendant has filed the above appeal by way of special leave.
8) In order to find out whether the application of the defendant under Order
VI Rule 17 for amendment of written statement is bonafide and sustainable at
this stage or not, it is useful to refer to the relevant provisions of CPC.
Order 6 Rule 17 reads thus:
"17. Amendment of pleadings.- The Court may at any stage of the
proceedings allow either party to alter or amend his pleadings in such manner
and on such terms as may be just, and all such amendments shall be made as may
be necessary for the purpose of determining the real questions in controversy
between the parties:
Provided that no application for amendment shall be allowed after the trial
has commenced, unless the Court comes to the conclusion that in spite of due
diligence, the party could not have raised the matter before the commencement
of trial."
This rule was omitted by the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1999.
However, before the enforcement of the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act,
1999, the original rule was substituted and restored with an additional
proviso. The proviso limits the power to allow amendment after the commencement
of trial but grants discretion to the court to allow amendment if it feels that
the party could not have raised the matter before the commencement of trial in
spite of due diligence. It is true that the power to allow amendment should be
liberally exercised. The liberal principles which guide the exercise of
discretion in allowing the amendment are that multiplicity of proceedings
should be avoided, that amendments which do not totally alter the character of
an action should be granted, while care should be taken to see that injustice
and prejudice of an irremediable character are not inflicted upon the opposite
party under pretence of amendment.
9) With a view to shorten the litigation and speed up the trial of cases
Rule 17 was omitted by amending Act 46 of 1999. This rule had been on the
statute for ages and there was hardly a suit or proceeding where this provision
had not been used. That was the reason it evoked much controversy leading to
protest all over the country. Thereafter, the rule was restored in its original
form by amending Act 22 of 2002 with a rider in the shape of the proviso
limiting the power of amendment to some extent. The new proviso lays down that
no application for amendment shall be allowed after the commencement of trial,
unless the court comes to the conclusion that in spite of due diligence, the
party could not have raised the matter before the commencement of trial. But
whether a party has acted with due diligence or not would depend upon the facts
and circumstances of each case. This would, to some extent, limit the scope of
amendment to pleadings, but would still vest enough powers in courts to deal
with the unforeseen situations whenever they arise.
10) The entire object of the said amendment is to stall filing of applications
for amending a pleading subsequent to the commencement of trial, to avoid
surprises and the parties had sufficient knowledge of the others case. It also
helps in checking the delays in filing the applications. Once, the trial
commences on the known pleas, it will be very difficult for any side to
reconcile. In spite of the same, an exception is made in the newly inserted
proviso where it is shown that in spite of due diligence, he could not raise a
plea, it is for the court to consider the same. Therefore, it is not a complete
bar nor shuts out entertaining of any later application. As stated earlier, the
reason for adding proviso is to curtail delay and expedite hearing of cases.
11) Keeping the above broad principles in mind, let us ascertain whether the
defendant has justiciable cause to file an application praying for amendment of
a written statement for bringing an agreement dated 10.09.1982. We have already
referred to the fact that the plaintiff had approached the court seeking a
decree for mandatory injunction as early as on 1986. We also refer to the fact that within a short duration i.e. in 1986 itself,
the defendant has filed a written statement. Absolutely, there is no whisper about the prior partition agreement dated
10.09.1982. No doubt, in the application for amendment, it was stated that her
son who is a Chartered Accountant all along was looking after this suit and he
died in the year 1998. It is also available from the very same application that
apart from her first son, namely, Sunit Gupta, defendant has another son by
name Navneet Agarwal. Admittedly, the son who looking after the suit was none else than a
Chartered Accountant. In such circumstances, if the alleged agreement dated
10.09.1982 between the plaintiff and defendant was in existence nothing
prevented her son, Chartered Accountant, to bring it to the notice of her
counsel and refer it in the written statement filed in the year 1986. It is
relevant to mention that in the reply, the plaintiff has specifically denied
the same and asserted that the alleged agreement/partition deed dated
10.09.1982 is a forged document and based on the same, the proposed amendment
cannot be allowed. It is also not in dispute and best known to both parties the
suit which is of the year 1986 came to be taken up for trial only in 2004 and
admittedly on the date of filing of the petition for amendment, the trial was
on the verge of completion. It was brought to our notice that both sides have
closed their evidence and completed their argument, but only at this stage the
defendant filed the said application for amendment of her written statement. As
discussed above, though first part of Rule 17 makes it clear that amendment of
pleadings is permitted at any stage of the proceeding, the proviso imposes certain
restrictions. It makes it clear that after the commencement of trial, no
application for amendment shall be allowed. However, if it is established that
in spite of "due diligence" the party could not have raised the
matter before the commencement of trial depending on the circumstances, the
court is free to order such application. The words "due diligence"
has not been defined in the Code. According to Oxford Dictionary (Edition 2006), the word
"diligence" means careful and persistent application or effort. "Diligent" means careful and steady in application to one's work
and duties, showing care and effort. As per Black's Law Dictionary (Eighth
Edition), "diligence" means a continual effort to accomplish
something, care; caution; the attention and care required from a person in a
given situation. "Due diligence" means the diligence reasonably expected from, and ordinarily exercised by, a
person who seeks to satisfy a legal requirement or to discharge an obligation.
According to Words and Phrases by Drain-Dyspnea (Permanent Edition 13A)
"due diligence", in law, means doing everything reasonable, not
everything possible. "Due diligence" means reasonable diligence; it
means such diligence as a prudent man would exercise in the conduct of his own
affairs. It is clear that unless the party takes prompt steps, mere action
cannot be accepted and file a petition after the commencement of trial. As
mentioned earlier, in the case on hand, the application itself came to be filed
only after 18 years and till the death of her first son Sunit Gupta, Chartered
Accountant, had not taken any step about the so-called agreement. Even after
his death in the year 1998, the petition was filed only in 2004. The
explanation offered by the defendant cannot be accepted since she did not
mention anything when she was examined as witness.
12) As rightly referred to by the High Court in Union of India vs. Pramod
Gupta (dead) by LRs and Others, (2005) 12 SCC 1, this Court cautioned that
delay and laches on the part of the parties to the proceedings would also be a
relevant factor for allowing or disallowing an application for amendment of the
pleadings.
13) As observed earlier, the suit filed in the year 1986 is for a right of
passage between two portions of the same property dragged for a period of 21
years. In spite of long delay, if acceptable material/materials placed before
the court show that the delay was beyond their control or diligence, it would
be possible for the court to consider the same by compensating the other side
by awarding cost. As pointed out earlier, when she gave evidence as D.W.1,
there was no whisper about the written document/partition between the parties.
On the other hand, she asserted that partition was oral. Now by filing the said
application, she wants to retract what she pleaded in the written statement,
undoubtedly it would deprive the claim of the plaintiff. We are also satisfied
that she failed to substantiate inordinate delay in filing the application that
too after closing of evidence and arguments.
All these aspects have been considered by the High Court. We do not find any
ground for interference in the order of the High Court, on the other hand, we
are in entire agreement with the same.
14) In the light of the above discussion, the appeal fails and the same is
dismissed. No costs. It is made clear that we have not expressed anything on
the stand taken by both parties in the suit and it is for the trial Court to
dispose of the same uninfluenced by any of the observation made above within a
period of three months from the date of receipt of copy of this judgment.
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