O R D E R (ORAL)

1. Petitioner/plaintiff has assailed orders dated 01.08.2025 and 11.08.2025 of the learned trial court. By way of order dated 01.08.2025, the learned trial court closed opportunity of petitioner/plaintiff to further cross examine DW1 since cost imposed for earlier adjournment was not paid and not even any application for waiver of the cost was moved. By way of order dated 11.08.2025, application of petitioner/plaintiff for recall of order dated 01.08.2025 was dismissed. In the interest of expeditious disposal of suit, which was instituted in the year 2006 and is at fag end, learned counsel for both sides request for permission to address final arguments today itself. As such I have heard learned counsel for both sides.

2. Learned counsel for petitioner/plaintiff submits that he was not granted fair opportunity to cross examine DW1. It is contended by learned counsel that on 01.08.2025, he had sought a pass over till 02:30pm but the same was denied by the learned trial court, so the impugned orders are not sustainable in the eyes of law. Learned counsel for petitioner/plaintiff

submits that on 01.08.2025, the learned trial court ought to have granted pass over to ensure fair trial because DW1 is the defendant himself. No other argument has been advanced.

3. Learned counsel for both respondents appearing on advance intimation accepts notice and strongly opposes the present petition, contending that petitioner/plaintiff has been deliberately protracting the proceedings, so does not deserve any further indulgence. In this regard, learned counsel for respondents has also produced before me copies of various orders of the learned trial court to demonstrate the conduct of the petitioner/plaintiff.

4. At the outset, the submission of learned counsel for petitioner/plaintiff that he had sought pass over on 01.08.2025 till 02:30pm is found not in consonance with the impugned order. As reflected from the impugned order dated 01.08.2025, on that day, the matter was listed for cross examination of DW1 and what was sought by counsel for petitioner/plaintiff was not pass over till 02:30pm but adjournment. As regards the adjournment request also, it would be significant to note that first the adjournment on that day was sought on the ground of illness of the main counsel, but on being called upon to submit medical documents, the proxy counsel who sought adjournment stated that due to some family exigency, main counsel was not available. To say the least, such falsehood coming from a counsel before the trial court as well as this court is deprecated.

5. Be that as it may, as mentioned above, for earlier adjournment cost of Rs.5,000/- had been imposed on petitioner/plaintiff, but the same was neither paid nor sought to be waived. That being so, the learned trial court on 01.08.2025 was fully justified in closing further cross examination of DW1. Rather, in the light of Section 35B CPC, as explained by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Manohar Singh vs. D.S. Sharma , (2010) 1 SCC 53, the learned trial court could have completely prohibited the petitioner/plaintiff from participating in the further proceedings of the suit. But the learned trial court, exercising discretion, took a lenient view and posted the matter to 11.08.2025 for recording evidence of DW2. It is informed by both sides that subsequently, DW2 as well as DW3 also were completely examined before the trial court.

6. Coming to the second order impugned in the present petition, as mentioned above, on 11.08.2025, after complete examination of DW3, petitioner/plaintiff filed an application seeking recall of order dated 01.08.2025, taking a plea that on 01.08.2025, main counsel for petitioner/plaintiff was in personal difficulty, which was informed to the opposite counsel but the latter did not object. The said application was strongly opposed by learned counsel for respondents/defendants. After traversing through the previous record, the learned trial court observed t