Section 4. Constitution of Commercial Division of High Court

4. Constitution of Commercial Division of High Court.— (1) In all High Courts, having[7] [ordinary original civil jurisdiction], the Chief Justice of the High Court may, by order, constitute Commercial Division having one or more Benches consisting of a single Judge for the purpose of exercising the jurisdiction and powers conferred on it under this Act. (2) The Chief Justice of the High Court shall nominate such Judges of the High Court who have experience in dealing with commercial disputes to be Judges of the Commercial Division. 4. Procedure.— (1) An application for summary judgment to a Court shall, in addition to any other matters the applicant may deem relevant, include the matters set forth in sub-clauses (a) to (f) mentioned hereunder:— (a) the application must contain a statement that it is an application for summary judgment made under this Order; (b) the application must precisely disclose all material facts and identify the point of law, if any; (c) in the event the applicant seeks to rely upon any documentary evidence, the applicant must,-- - (i) include such documentary evidence in its application, and (ii) identify the relevant content of such documentary evidence on which the applicant relies; (d) the application must state the reason why there are no real prospects of succeeding on the claim or defending the claim, as the case may be; (e) the application must state what relief the applicant is seeking and briefly state the grounds for seeking such relief. (2) Where a hearing for summary judgment is fixed, the respondent must be given at least thirty days' notice of:— - (a) the date fixed for the hearing; and (b) the claim that is proposed to be decided by the Court at such hearing. 4. Admission and denial of documents.— (1) Each party shall submit a statement of admissions or denials of all documents disclosed and of which inspection has been completed, within fifteen days of the completion of inspection or any later date as fixed by the Court. (2) The statement of admissions and denials shall set out explicitly, whether such party was admitting or denying:— (a) correctness of contents of a document; - (b) existence of a document; (c) execution of a document; (d) issuance or receipt of a document; (e) custody of a document. Explanation .--A statement of admission or denial of the existence of a document made in accordance with sub-rule (2) (b) shall include the admission or denial of the contents of a document. (3) Each party shall set out reasons for denying a document under any of the above grounds and bare and unsupported denials shall not be deemed to be denials of a document and proof of such documents may then be dispensed with at the discretion of the Court. (4) Any party may however submit bare denials for third party documents of which the party denying does not have any personal knowledge of, and to which the party denying is not a party to in any manner whatsoever. (5) An Affidavit in support of the statement of admissions and denials shall be filed confirming the correctness of the contents of the statement. (3) The respondent may, within thirty days of the receipt of notice of application of summary judgment or notice of hearing (whichever is earlier), file a reply addressing the matters set forth in clauses (a) to (f) mentioned hereunder in addition to any other matters that the respondent may deem relevant:— - (a) the reply must precisely-- - (i) disclose all material facts; - (ii) identify the point of law, if any; and (iii) state the reasons why the relief sought by the applicant should not be granted; (b) in the event the respondent seeks to rely upon any documentary evidence in its reply, the respondent must— (i) include such documentary evidence in its reply; and (ii) identify the relevant content of such documentary evidence on which the respondent relies; (c) the reply must state the reason why there are real prospects of succeeding on the claim or defending the claim, as the case may be; (d) the reply must concisely state the issues that should be framed for trial; (e) the reply must identify what further evidence shall be brought on record at trial that could not be brought on record at the stage of summary judgment; and (f) the reply must state why, in light of the evidence or material on record if any, the Court should not proceed to summary judgment. 4. Recording of oral evidence on a day-today basis.— The Court shall, as far as possible, ensure that the recording of evidence shall be carried on, on a day-to-day basis until the cross-examination of all the witnesses is complete. (6) In the event that the Court holds that any party has unduly refused to admit a document under any of the above criteria,-costs (including exemplary costs) for deciding on admissibility of a document may be imposed by the Court on such party. (7) The Court may pass orders with respect to admitted documents including for waiver of further proof thereon or rejection of any documents. (2) Where the plaintiff seeks interest, the plaint shall state whether the plaintiff is seeking interest in relation to a commercial transaction within the meaning of section 34 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) and, furthermore, if the plaintiff is doing so under the terms of a contract or under an Act, in which case the Act is to be specified in the plaint; or on some other basis and shall state the basis of that. - (3) Pleadings shall also state— - (a) the rate at which interest is claimed; - (b) the date from which it is claimed; (c) the date to which it is calculated; (d) the total amount of interest claimed to the date of calculation; and (e) the daily rate at which interest accrues after that date."; (D) in Order VIII,-- - (i) in Rule 1, for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-- 4. I say that there is no false statement or concealment of any material fact, document or record and I have included information that is according to me, relevant for the present suit. "Provided that where the defendant fails to file the written statement within the said period of thirty days, he shall be allowed to file the written statement on such other day, as may be specified by the Court, for reasons to be recorded in writing and on payment of such costs as the Court deems fit, but which shall not be later than one hundred twenty days from the date of service of summons and on expiry of one hundred twenty days from the date of service of summons, the defendant shall forfeit the right to file the written statement and the Court shall not allow the written statement to be taken on record."; (ii) after Rule 3, the following Rule shall be inserted, namely:-- "3A. Denial by the defendant in suits before the Commercial Division of the High Court or the Commercial Court— (1) Denial shall be in the manner provided in sub-rules (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this Rule. (2) The defendant in his written statement shall state which of the allegations in the particulars of plaint he denies, which allegations he is unable to admit or deny, but which he requires the plaintiff to prove, and which allegations he admits. (3) Where the defendant denies an allegation of fact in a plaint, he must state his reasons for doing so and if he intends to put forward a different version of events from that given by the plaintiff, he must state his own version. (4) If the defendant disputes the jurisdiction of the Court he must state the reasons for doing so, and if he is able, give his own statement as to which Court ought to have jurisdiction. (5) If the defendant disputes the plaintiff's valuation of the suit, he must state his reasons for doing so, and if he is able, give his own statement of the value of the suit."; (iii) in Rule 5, in sub-rule (1), after the first proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, — namely: ''Provided further that every allegation of fact in the plaint, if not denied in the manner provided under Rule 3A of this Order, shall be taken to be admitted except as against a person under disability."; (iv) in Rule 10,[1] *, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-- 1. The words "after the first proviso" omitted by Act 28 of 2018, s. 18 (w.e.f. 3-5-2018). "[1] [Provided that] no Court shall make an order to extend the time provided under Rule 1 of this Order for filing of the written statement."; (E) for Order XI of the Code, the following Order shall be substituted, namely:— "ORDER XI DISCLOSURE, DISCOVERY AND INSPECTION OF DOCUMENTS IN SUITS BEFORE THE COMMERCIAL DIVISION OF A HIGH COURT OR A COMMERCIAL COURT