Hyderabad High Court: A revision petition filed against the order of the Principal Junior Civil Judge whereby he rejected the I.A filed by the petitioner herein, was allowed by M.S. Ramchandra Rao, J.
Brief facts of the case were that the respondent (original plaintiff) filed a writ against the petitioner (original defendant). The defendant filed a counter claim to the suit. The plaintiff filed a written statement to the counter claim after a gap of nine years without leave of the court. The defendant filed an I.A before the Civil Judge which was dismissed. Present revision was filed against the said order of dismissal of I.A by the Civil Judge.
The Court referred to Order VIII Rule I of CPC and held that it provides that a written statement to a suit as also to a counter claim shall be filed within 30 days, extendable up to a maximum of 90 days. Relying on decisions of the Supreme Court, the Court held that such maximum period as prescribed in the CPC could be extended by the Court in exceptional cases only after recording the reasons in writing. However, in the present case, the Court held that the Civil Judge dismissed the I.A filed by the defendant without considering the fact that no reasons were recorded by the Court before admitting the written statement filed by the plaintiff beyond the maximum period of 90 days. Thus, the present revision was allowed and the impugned order was set aside. The written statement field by the plaintiff in response to the counter claim filed by the defendant was struck down. [Y. Venkata Ramana v. Yellaboyani Venkatamma, 2018 SCC OnLine Hyd 53; dated 23-04-2018]
