Supreme Court rules that defendants in summary suits under Order XXXVII CPC cannot file defence without first obtaining leave of the Court.

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CASE OVERVIEW

CASE NAME: Executive Trading Company Private Limited. vs. Grow Well Mercantile Private Limited

A bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice SVN Bhatti of the Supreme Court of India set aside the Bombay High Court’s order that had permitted a defendant to file a reply in a commercial summary suit without obtaining leave to defend as required under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) . The dispute arose from a ₹2.15 crore recovery suit filed by Executive Trading Company against Grow Well Mercantile, where the High Court had allowed the defendant to file a reply like in a regular civil suit .

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KEY ASPECTS

Before discussing legal provisions, it is essential to understand that Order XXXVII CPC establishes a fast-track mechanism to recover debts and avoid unnecessary defences unless permitted by the Court .

• The defendant filed a reply without first seeking leave of the Court .
• The Bombay High Court treated the case as a normal civil suit allowing a defence .
• The plaintiff argued this violated the special summary procedure under Order XXXVII CPC .
• The Supreme Court emphasized that such leave is mandatory to maintain procedural distinctness .

LEGAL INSIGHTS

The Court referred to several provisions and principles governing summary suits :

• Order XXXVII Rule 3(1)–(7) CPC outlines the steps for filing appearance, summons and application for leave to defend .
• Order XXXVII Rule 3(5) allows the Court to grant or refuse leave based on the genuineness of the defence .
• Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 on pre-institution mediation was discussed but found non-determinative .
• The judgment reinforced that leave to defend is a statutory precondition for filing any defence in summary suits .

COURT’S VERDICT

The Supreme Court set aside the Bombay High Court ruling, holding that no defence or reply can be filed in a summary suit under Order XXXVII CPC without the leave of the Court . The bench clarified that this ruling would not prejudice the defendant’s pending proceedings but reaffirmed that the summary procedure’s integrity must be preserved to prevent its dilution .

Source – Supreme Court of India 

Read also – Civil Procedure Code

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