IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7712 OF 2025 IN SUIT NO. 964 OF 2018 Navin Properties Pvt. Ltd. ...Applicant V/s.

Vasudev Dayaram Navani (Deceased) ...Respondent WITH SUIT NO. 964 OF 2018 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7707 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7709 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7695 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7698 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7699 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7701 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7710 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7643 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7655 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7656 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7657 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 1493 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 499 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 5605 OF 2025 WITH INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 7697 OF 2025 Mr. Rahul Kamerkar with Ms. Aparajita Jha for the Plaintiff.

Mr. Darshan Mehta with Ms. Megha Sanghavi i/b Dhruve Liladhar & Co. for the Defendants No. 2,3,4,8,9,10,17,18,20,21,33 and 34 and for Applicant.

Mr. Feroze Patel with Mr. Aziz Mohd. & Sehyr Taly i/b S. Mahomedbhai & Co. for the Applicants in IA 1493/25 and for Defendants No. 5,6 &

31 in the Suit.

Mr. Jeet Gandhi for the Defendant No. 13.

Mr. Nirav Shah with Ms. Niharika Singh and Ms. Richika Kadam i/b Little and Co. for the Defendants No. 26,36 and 37 in Suit 964/18.

Ms. Khushnumah Banerjee i/b Vidhii Partners for the Defendant No.30.

Mr. Ankit H. Pandey for the Applicant in IA 5605/25.

CORAM : ABHAY AHUJA, J. DATE : 7^th JANUARY, 2026 P.C. :

1. These 13 Interim Applications filed by the Defendants No.2 to 4, 8 to 10, 16 to 18, 20, 21, 33 and 34 seek condonation of delay of 182 days in filing the respective written statements.

2. It is not in dispute that the copies of the amended Plaint were served on 17^th October, 2024, after which the writ of summons was served on 1^st May, 2025. That on 3^rd September, 2025, the Prothonotary & Senior Master has recorded that on 20^th August, 2025 a statement was made on behalf of the said Applicants that they would file Interim Applications for condonation of delay in filing the written statement, however, no such Interim Application had been filed and therefore, the Prothonotary & Senior Master by order dated 3^rd September, 2025 has transferred the Suit to the list of undefended Suits as regards the said Defendants.

3. Mr. Mehta, learned Counsel appearing for the Applicants submits that earlier on 29^th January, 2025 two of the Defendants had filed an Application under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”) for rejection of the Plaint. Mr. Mehta submits that it is settled law that the Defendant is entitled to file an application for rejection before filing his written statement and in case the application is rejected, the Defendant is entitled to file his written statement and refers to the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of R. K.

Roja Vs. U. S. Rayudu and Anr., (2016) 14 SCC 275

4. Mr. Mehta further submits that since the Suit had been amended and there were volumes of information which had to be collated, there has been a delay of six months, which is not intentional. The Defendant No.1, who used to handle the day-to-day affairs pertaining to the companies and in the management and in control of the records, documents and correspondence, passed away on 3^rd October, 2020 and upon his demise, the Defendant No.2, who is the director was required to step into his shoes and take charge of all the affairs managed by him including those from the present Suit which involved familiarizing herself with large volumes of documents, accounts and correspondence including 11 volumes of the Plaint in the Suit. This exercise required collation of the voluminous material which took time. That since there has been suppression in the Suit that has been filed with respect to the data and material and the exercise involved time which has led to the delay