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ALKA SARIN
Gurjit Kaur – Appellant
Versus
Jagjit Singh – Respondent
JUDGMENT
Alka Sarin, J. (Oral) - The present revision petition has been filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India for setting aside the impugned order dated 08.03.2018 (Annexure P-3) whereby the Trial Court has allowed the re-examination of PW1-Gurjit Kaur and PW3-Jagtar Singh on the ground that material questions remained to be put to the said witnesses.
2. Learned counsel for the plaintiff-petitioners would contend that the application for recalling PW1 and PW3 for re-examination has been permitted on grounds which are beyond the scope of Order 18 Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
3. Per contra, learned counsel for the defendant-respondent has contended that no prejudice would be caused to the plaintiff-petitioners in case the witnesses are recalled for cross-examination. It is further the contention that when the witnesses were cross-examined earlier, some material questions remained to be put to the witnesses and, hence, it was necessary to recall the witnesses for further cross-examination.
4. Heard.
5. In the present case, the evidence of the witnesses (PW1 and PW3) was recorded and, thereafter, their cross-examination was also conducted. Subsequently, an ap
The main legal point established in the judgment is that an application to recall witnesses for cross-examination must be supported by valid reasons and cannot be allowed if it is an abuse of the pro....
The court emphasized that powers under Order 18, Rule 17 CPC cannot be used to fill omissions in previously recorded witness evidence, reaffirming its intended use for clarification only.
The power to recall a witness under Order 18 Rule 17 CPC is intended to clarify doubts and not to fill omissions in evidence or to allow for further elaboration on left-out issues.
The provision under Order 18 Rule 17 CPC is not intended to fill up lacunae, and repeated applications for recall of the same witness for further cross-examination would not be maintainable.
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