Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 – Ord. XVIII r.1 – Hearing of suit and examination of witnesses – Right to begin – Defendants be asked to lead the oral evidence – When:
Held: Ord. XVIII speaks of the ‘hearing’ of a suit which is only a part of the trial of the suit – Determination of the question as to which party has a right to begin is an integral part of the hearing itself – Ord. XVIII r. 1 indeed provides for plaintiff's right to begin the evidence but not the court's obligation to ask the plaintiffs to begin first – No impediment for the court to call upon either party to lead evidence first, depending upon the facts and circumstances of the case and the nature of the issues framed – Neither party can insist that the other one should be asked to lead it first – Where the court finds that defendant's plea strikes at the root of the case, no hitch in asking him/her to prove such plea first which can lead to disposal of the case – All rules of procedure are designed and directed to achieve and secure ends of justice – On facts, the trial court rejected the application filed by the petitioners u/Ord. XVIII r. 1 that as defendants are not disputing the agreement of sale, the defendant be asked to begin to lead oral evidence, and the High Court also declined to interfere – High Court rightly held that although the defence has admitted the existence of a document“agreement of sale”, yet they have specifically said that the same is a sham transaction – Averments made in the written statement sought to be relied upon by the plaintiff does not ipso facto be construed to be admission of materials facts in the alleged plaint – Thus, no reason to interfere with the impugned order passed by the High Court. [Paras 5, 7, 17-19]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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