There was a case pending before the trial court in which the current appellants were involved. However, since they did not file the written statement for 22 days, the trial court imposed a fine of ₹20,000 on them. Aggrieved, the appellants (represented by Haque) approached the High Court.
Before the High Court, Haque submitted that the time limit for filing a written statement was 120 days, and not 90 days.
However, as per Order VIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the time limit for filing the written statement is 30 days, which can be extended to 90 days. For commercial suits, the time limit is 120 days.
Considering this as an attempt to mislead the Court, Justice Kalyan Rai Surana of the High Court ordered,
“Therefore, taking an exception to the submission made at the bar by the learned counsel for the petitioners to project the period of limitation for filing written statement to be 120 days, the Court is of the considered opinion that this application deserves to be dismissed in limine at the motion stage without issuance of notice on the respondents. Nonetheless, for making an attempt to mislead the Court, the Court is inclined to impose a cost of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees twenty thousand only) on the learned counsel for the petitioners…”
Source: Barandbench
