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Ishwarlal Mali Rathod v. Gopal & Ors.

Special Leave Petition (Civil) · 2021 INSC 502Decided 20 Sept 2021
Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 14117-14118 of 2021
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice A.S. Bopanna

Background

The respondents had filed an eviction suit against the petitioner (defendant) in 2013. Over the following years, the defendant sought and obtained at least ten adjournments to avoid cross-examining the plaintiff's witness, including two occasions where the adjournment was expressly granted as a "last opportunity," with costs imposed once. When the defendant still failed to cross-examine the witness, the Trial Court closed his right to do so, a decision the High Court upheld.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petitions, describing the case as "a classic example of misuse of the adjournments granted by the court." Surveying its own precedent condemning the "adjournment culture" that clogs the justice system and delays litigants' access to timely relief, the Court held that having been given repeated, explicit last chances and having squandered each one, the defendant could not complain when his right to cross-examine was finally closed. The Court also noted the underlying suit had since been fully disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

Courts will not indefinitely tolerate delay tactics: a litigant who repeatedly seeks and is granted adjournments, especially after being warned that an opportunity is the "last" one, risks permanently losing the procedural right (such as cross-examination) that the adjournments were meant to protect.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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