Model Arguments for Delay in Filing Written Statement (Non-commercial suits)

 

🔹 Model Arguments for Delay in Filing Written Statement (Non-commercial suits)

✅ 1️⃣ Procedural law is directory, not mandatory

• Refer to Kailash v. Nanhku (2005) 4 SCC 480.

• Argue: Order VIII Rule 1 CPC is directory; courts have discretion to accept the written statement even beyond 90 days to avoid injustice.

✅ 2️⃣ No prejudice to the plaintiff

• The delay in filing does not prejudice the plaintiff’s substantive rights; the matter is still at the preliminary stage.

✅ 3️⃣ Exceptional / sufficient cause exists

• Provide valid reasons:

  • Illness of party or counsel.

  • Change of counsel.

  • Administrative/official delay in obtaining documents.

  • Genuine misunderstanding or inadvertence.

✅ 4️⃣ Principles of natural justice

• Denying the defendant’s right to defend on purely technical grounds would violate natural justice (audi alteram partem).

✅ 5️⃣ Procedural law is a handmaiden of justice

• As held in Salem Advocate Bar Assn. (II) v. Union of India (2005) 6 SCC 344, procedural rules are meant to advance justice, not defeat it.

✅ 6️⃣ No malafide or intentional delay

• Argue that the delay was not due to negligence, malafide, or deliberate tactics; the defendant is keen to contest fairly.