Procedure for the appearance of defendant
Full Text
(1) In a suit to which this Order applies, the plaintiff shall, together with the summons under rule 2, serve on the defendant a copy of the plaint and annexures thereto and the defendant may, at any time within ten days of such service, enter an appearance either in person or by pleader and, in either case, he shall file in Court an address for service of notices on him.
(2) Unless otherwise ordered, all summonses, notices and other judicial processes, required to be served on the defendant, shall be deemed to have been duly served on him if they are left at the address given by him for such service.
(3) On the day of entering the appearance, notice of such appearance shall be given by the defendant to the plaintiff’s pleader, or, if the plaintiff sues in person, to the plaintiff himself, either by notice delivered at or sent by a pre-paid letter directed to the address of the plaintiff's pleader or of the plaintiff, as the case may be.
(4) If the defendant enters an appearance, the plaintiff shall thereafter serve on the defendant a summons for judgment in Form No. 4A in Appendix B or such other Form as may be prescribed from time to time, returnable not less than ten days from the date of service supported by an affidavit verifying the cause of action and the amount claimed and stating that in his belief there is no defence to the suit.
(5) The defendant may, at any time within ten days from the service of such summons for judgment, by affidavit or otherwise disclosing such facts as may be deemed sufficient to entitle him to defend, apply on such summons for leave to defend such suit, and leave to defend may be granted to him unconditionally or upon such terms as may appear to the Court or Judge to be just:
Provided that leave to defend shall not be refused unless the Court is satisfied that the facts disclosed by the defendant do not indicate that he has a substantial defence to raise or that the defence intended to be put up by the defendant is frivolous or vexatious:
Provided further that, where a part of the amount claimed by the plaintiff is admitted by the defendant to be due from him, leave to defend the suit shall not be granted unless the amount so admitted to be due is deposited by the defendant in Court.
(6) At the hearing of such summons for judgment,—
(a) if the defendant has not applied for leave to defend, or if such application has been made and is refused, the plaintiff shall be entitled to judgment forthwith; or
(b) if the defendant is permitted to defend as to the whole or any part of the claim, the Court or Judge may direct him to give such security and within such time as may be fixed by the Court or Judge and that, on failure to give such security within the time specified by the Court or Judge or to carry out such other directions as may have been given by the Court or Judge, the plaintiff shall be entitled to judgment forthwith.
(7) The Court or Judge may, for sufficient cause shown by the defendant, excuse the delay of the defendant in entering an appearance or in applying for leave to defend the suit.
Plain English Summary
Governs the complete two-tier procedural architecture of an Order XXXVII suit: (1) entering appearance within 10 days, (2) service of Summons for Judgment (Form 4A) by plaintiff, (3) application for Leave to Defend within 10 days by defendant, unconditional or conditional leave, mandatory deposit of admitted debts, and condonation of delay under sub-rule (7).
Key Legal Elements
- Step 1: 10 Days to Enter Appearance (Sub-rule 1): Service of plaint + Form 4 summons; defendant files Memo of Appearance with address for service.
- Step 2: Summons for Judgment in Form 4A (Sub-rule 4): Plaintiff serves Form 4A supported by affidavit verifying cause of action and asserting no defence.
- Step 3: 10 Days for Leave to Defend (Sub-rule 5): Defendant files affidavit disclosing triable issues.
- Unconditional vs Conditional Leave: Unconditional leave if triable issues/substantial defence disclosed; conditional leave (deposit of money/security) if defence is shadowy/dubious.
- Mandatory Deposit of Admitted Debt (Proviso 2): If any part of the debt is admitted, leave cannot be granted without depositing the admitted amount in court.
- Immediate Judgment on Default (Sub-rule 6): Immediate judgment if leave is not applied for, refused, or if conditional deposit is breached.
- Condonation of Delay (Sub-rule 7): Inbuilt discretion under sub-rule (7) to excuse delay in appearance or applying for leave for 'sufficient cause'.
Practical Note
Landmark Principles on Leave to Defend: 1. Supreme Court Benchmark — IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd. v. Hubtown Ltd. (2017) 1 SCC 568: Updating Mechelec Engineers (1976), the Supreme Court crystallized the 5 governing principles: (a) Substantial Defence: Unconditional leave must be granted. (b) Triable Issues (Bona Fide Defence): Unconditional leave must be granted. (c) Plausible but Dubious/Shadowy Defence: Conditional leave (deposit of money or furnishing solvent security). (d) Frivolous, Vexatious, or Moonshine Defence: Leave must be refused, and plaintiff is entitled to judgment forthwith. (e) Part Admission of Debt: Leave CANNOT be granted unless the admitted sum is first deposited in court. 2. Condonation of Delay: In Rajni Kumar v. Suresh Kumar Malhotra (2003) 5 SCC 315, it was held that Sub-rule (7) is a self-contained provision enabling the court to condone delay in entering appearance or applying for leave upon sufficient cause shown.
हिंदी पाठ
(1) ऐसे वाद में जिस पर यह आदेश लागू होता है, वादी नियम 2 के अधीन सम्मन के साथ वादपत्र और उसके अनुलग्नकों की एक प्रति प्रतिवादी पर तामील कराएगा और प्रतिवादी ऐसी तामील के दस दिन के भीतर किसी भी समय या तो स्वयं या प्लीडर द्वारा उपसंजात हो सकेगा तथा दोनों ही दशाओं में वह न्यायालय में अपने ऊपर सूचनाओं की तामील के लिए एक पता फाइल करेगा।
(2) जब तक अन्यथा आदेश न दिया जाए, प्रतिवादी पर तामील की जाने वाली सभी सम्मन, सूचनाएं और अन्य न्यायिक आदेशिकाएं उसके द्वारा तामील के लिए दिए गए पते पर छोड़ दिए जाने पर उस पर सम्यक रूप से तामील समझी जाएंगी।
(3) उपसंजात होने के दिन ही, प्रतिवादी द्वारा वादी के प्लीडर को या स्वयं वादी को ऐसी उपसंजाति की सूचना दी जाएगी।
(4) यदि प्रतिवादी उपसंजात होता है, तो वादी तत्पश्चात परिशिष्ट ख के प्ररूप संख्या 4क में निर्णय के लिए सम्मन (Summons for judgment) प्रतिवादी पर तामील कराएगा, जो तामील की तारीख से कम से कम दस दिन में प्रतिवर्ती (Returnable) होगा और वादहेतुक व दावाकृत राशि को सत्यापित करने वाले तथा यह प्रकथन करने वाले शपथपत्र द्वारा समर्थित होगा कि उसके विश्वास में वाद की कोई प्रतिरक्षा नहीं है।
(5) प्रतिवादी निर्णय के लिए ऐसे सम्मन की तामील से दस दिन के भीतर किसी भी समय, ऐसे तथ्यों को प्रकट करने वाले शपथपत्र द्वारा, जो प्रतिरक्षा का हकदार बनाने के लिए पर्याप्त समझे जाएं, वाद में प्रतिरक्षा की इजाजत (Leave to defend) के लिए आवेदन कर सकेगा, और प्रतिरक्षा की इजाजत उसे अशर्त (Unconditionally) अथवा ऐसे निबंधनों पर दी जा सकेगी जो न्यायालय को न्यायसंगत प्रतीत हों:
परंतु प्रतिरक्षा की इजाजत देने से तब तक इनकार नहीं किया जाएगा जब तक कि न्यायालय का यह समाधान न हो जाए कि प्रतिवादी द्वारा प्रकट किए गए तथ्य यह उपदर्शित नहीं करते कि उसके पास उठाने के लिए कोई सारभूत प्रतिरक्षा है अथवा प्रतिवादी द्वारा की जाने वाली आशयित प्रतिरक्षा तुच्छ या तंग करने वाली है:
परंतु यह और कि जहां वादी द्वारा दावाकृत राशि का कोई भाग प्रतिवादी द्वारा अपने प्रति शोध्य स्वीकार किया जाता है, वहां वाद में प्रतिरक्षा की इजाजत तब तक नहीं दी जाएगी जब तक कि इस प्रकार शोध्य स्वीकार की गई राशि प्रतिवादी द्वारा न्यायालय में जमा न कर दी जाए।
(6) निर्णय के लिए ऐसे सम्मन की सुनवाई पर,—
(क) यदि प्रतिवादी ने प्रतिरक्षा की इजाजत के लिए आवेदन नहीं किया है, अथवा यदि ऐसा आवेदन किया गया है और नामंजूर कर दिया गया है, तो वादी तुरंत निर्णय पाने का हकदार होगा; अथवा
(ख) यदि प्रतिवादी को प्रतिरक्षा की इजाजत दी जाती है, तो न्यायालय उसे प्रतिभूति (Security) देने का निदेश दे सकेगा और प्रतिभूति न देने पर वादी तुरंत निर्णय का हकदार होगा।
(7) न्यायालय प्रतिवादी द्वारा पर्याप्त हेतुक दर्शित किए जाने पर, उपसंजात होने में या प्रतिरक्षा की इजाजत के लिए आवेदन करने में हुए विलंब को माफ कर सकेगा।