JUDGMENT :

Munishwar Nath Bhandari, J.

Prayer in OSA (CAD) No.167 of 2021: Appeal filed under Section 13(1) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 read with Clause 15 of the amended Letters Patent Act, 1865, against the order dated 13.07.2021 in C.S. (Comm. Div.) No.310 of 2020.

OSA (CAD) No.168 of 2021: Appeal filed under Section 13(1) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 read with Clause 15 of the amended Letters Patent Act, 1865, against the order dated 01.10.2021 in C.S. (Comm. Div.) No.310 of 2020.

1. By these appeals, challenges are made to the order dated 13.07.2021 holding that the appellant-defendant has lost its rights to file the written statement and the judgment dated 01.10.2021 decreeing the suit filed by the plaintiff-non-appellant respectively.

2. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that after service of notice in the suit, the appellant-defendant entered appearance through counsel. However, the written statement could not be filed due to the situation obtaining at the relevant time. Ignoring the aforesaid, the right of the appellant-defendant to file the written statement was closed by the order dated 13.07.2021 and therefore, the order has been challenged herein.

3. Subsequently, a final order was passed on 01.10.2021 without the written statement of the appellant-defendant. The said order has been challenged contending that the Apex Court in the similar circumstances, by order dated 04.01.2021, dismissed the appeal filed against the order of the High Court extending the period of limitation to submit the written statement.

4. The order dated 13.07.2021 whereby the right to file the written statement by the appellant was closed by the learned Single Judge and the final order dated 01.10.2021 passed thereafter, have been assailed in separate appeals. Therefore, both the appeals are taken up by us for hearing together.

5. A perusal of the order dated 13.07.2021 would disclose closure of rights to file the written statement was mainly on the ground of limitation to file the written statement.

6. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the plaint was filed in the year 2020 and the appellant-defendant put in appearance through the counsel on 23.11.2020. The right to file the written statement was closed on 13.07.2021 itself. The Apex Court, in a similar matter in Centaur Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. v. Stanford Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. [SLP No.17298 of 2021 dated 04.01.2021], did not interfere with the order passed by the High Court extending the limitation for filing written statement. In view of the above, the order dated 13.07.2021, closing the right of the appellant-defendant to file the written statement is to be set aside and also the final order dated 01.10.2021 with a direction to the learned Single Judge to decide the suit afresh after considering the written statement.

7. The appeals have been contested by learned counsel for the non-appellant-plaintiff. It is mainly on the ground that when the period of limitation has been provided for filing the written statement, it could not have been extended by the learned Single Judge hearing the plaint and thus, the right to file the written statement was rightly closed by the order dated 13.07.2021 and the final order was also passed on 01.10.2021 after considering the evidence. In view of the above, even the final order dated 01.10.2021 may not be interfered with.

8. We have considered the rival submissions of the parties and perused the materials placed on record.

9. We find that the suit has been preferred in the year 2020 and the right to file the written statement was closed by the order dated 13.07.2021 on the ground that the limitation for filing the written statement has expired, ignoring the fact that the period for filing can be extended. It is not only that the Apex Court in the case of Centaur Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. supra has refused to interfere with the order passed by the High Court in extending the period of limitation of filing of the written statement