$~20 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + CS(OS) 712/2022 & I.A. 18946/2022 SUNITA MAHENDRA @ ANITA AND ORS .....Plaintiffs Through: Mr. Kunal Bahri, Advocate versus VIKAS CHOPRA & ORS ......Defendants Through: Mr. Akash Vajpai, Adv for D-1 Mr. Kapil Lalwani, Mr. Ranjit Wadhwa, Mrs. Swastika Upadhyay, Mrs. Neha Sehrawat, Advs for D-4.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD

O R D E R

% 19.02.2026 O.A. 117/2024 & I.A. 34191/2024

1. The present Chamber Appeal under Rule 5 of Chapter II of the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018 has been filed by Defendant No.4 against the Order dated 20.11.2023 passed by the Ld. Joint Registrar rejecting the LA. No. 8943/2023 filed by Defendant No.4 seeking condonation of delay of 48 days in filing the written statement.

2. Rules 3 & 4 of Chapter VII of the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018 [“Delhi High Court Rules”] prescribes the manner and period within which the Written Statement has to be filed. The said Rules reads as under:

“3. Affidavit of admission/ denial of documents alongwith written statement.- Alongwith the written statement, defendant shall also file an affidavit of admission/ denial of documents filed by the plaintiff, without which the written statement shall not be taken on record. Alongwith the written statement, the defendant shall be entitled to file applications for interrogatories for examination of the plaintiff together with proposed interrogatories; application for discovery; and application for inspection of such documents.

4. Extension of time for filing written statement.—If the Court is satisfied that the defendant was prevented by sufficient cause for exceptional and unavoidable reasons in filing the written statement within 30 days, it may extend the time for filing the same by a further period not exceeding 90 days, but not thereafter. For such extension of time, the party in delay shall be burdened with costs as deemed appropriate. The written statement shall not be taken on record unless such costs have been paid/ deposited. In case the defendant fails to file the affidavit of admission/ denial of documents filed by the plaintiff, the documents filed by the plaintiff shall be deemed to be admitted. In case, no written statement is filed within the extended time also, the Registrar may pass orders for closing the right to file the written statement.”

3. A perusal of the abovementioned Rules shows that the written statement is required to be filed within 30 days of receipt of summons and must be accompanied by an affidavit of admission/denial of documents. Rule 4 further provides that if the written statement is not filed within the initial period of 30 days, the Court may, for sufficient cause and for exceptional and unavoidable reasons, extend the time by a further period not exceeding 90 days, subject to costs. Upon such delay being condoned and the requisite costs being paid/deposited, the written statement may be taken on record.

4. Even though the Delhi High Court Rules provide that it is mandatory that the Written Statement must be filed along with an affidavit of admission/denial of documents, however, some Courts have taken a view that the said requirement is not mandatory but only directory. This Court is not entering into that controversy at this juncture.

5. The facts of the case reveal that summons was served on Defendant No.4 on 25.01.2023 and in accordance with Rule 4 of the Delhi High Court Rules, the written statement along with the affidavit of admission/denial ought to have been filed on or before 24.02.2023. Admittedly, the written statement was initially filed by Defendant No.4 on 15.04.2023, which was within the maximum permissible period of 120 days. However, the Written Statement was not filed along with an affidavit of admission/denial of documents and the affidavit of admission/denial of documents was filed only on 12.07.2023, which is after the delay of 170 days. The Delhi High Court Rules also mandates that the