The hearing of a suit begins on production of evidence by the parties and suit gets culminated on pronouncement of the judgment.
Order XVIII
Under Order XVIII Rule 1 of the Code, the plaintiff has a right to begin unless the defendant admits the facts alleged by the plaintiff and contends that either in point of law or on some additional facts alleged by him the plaintiff is not entitled to any part of the relief which he seeks, in which case the defendant has the right to begin.
On the day fixed for the hearing of the suit or any other day to which the hearing is adjourned, as per the provisions contained in Order XVIII Rule 2, party having the right to begin is required to state his case and produce his evidence in support of issues which he is bound to prove.
Under Order XVIII, Rule 2 sub-rule (2), the other party shall then state his case and produce his evidence. Under sub- rule (3A) of Rule 2 of Order XVIII, the parties in suit may address oral arguments in a case and may also avail opportunity of filing written arguments before conclusion of oral arguments.
Rule 15 of Order XVIII- One who hears must decide the Case
Rule 15 of Order XVIII provides for the contingency where the Judge before whom the hearing of the suit has begun is prevented by death, transfer or other cause from concluding the trial of a suit. This provision enables the successor Judge to proceed from the stage at which his predecessor left the suit. The provision contained in Rule 15 of Order XVIII of the Code is a special provision.
The idea behind this provision is to obviate re-recording of the evidence or re-hearing of the suit where a Judge is prevented by death, transfer or other cause from concluding the trial of a suit and to take the suit forward from the stage the predecessor Judge left the matter.
The trial of a suit is a long drawn process and in the course of trial, the Judge may get transferred; he may retire or in an unfortunate event like death, he may not be in a position to conclude the trial. The Code has taken care by this provision that in such event the progress that has already taken place in the hearing of the suit is not set at naught.
This provision comes into play in various situations such as where part of the evidence of a party has been recorded in a suit or where the evidence of the parties is closed and the suit is ripe for oral arguments or where the evidence of the parties has been recorded and the Judge has also heard the oral arguments of the parties and fixed the matter for pronouncement of judgment. The expression “from the stage at which his predecessor left it” is wide and comprehensive enough to take in its fold all situations and stages of the suit.
No category or exception deserves to be carved out while giving full play to Rule 15 of Order XVIII of the Code which amply empowers the successor Judge to proceed with the suit from the stage at which his predecessor left it.
In Gullapalli Nageswara Rao and Ors. 1959 AIR 308, Supreme Court stated the principle that one who hears must decide the case. The Court said:
“The second objection is that while the Act and the Rules framed thereunder impose a duty on the State Government to give a personal hearing, the procedure prescribed by the Rules impose a duty on the Secretary to hear and the Chief Minister to decide. This divided responsibility is destructive of the concept of judicial hearing. Such a procedure defeats the object of personal hearing.
Personal hearing enables the authority concerned to watch the demeanour of the witnesses and clear-up his doubts during the course of the arguments, and the party appearing to persuade the authority by reasoned argument to accept his point of view. If one person hears and another decides, then personal hearing becomes and empty formality. We therefore hold that the said procedure followed in this case also offends another basic principle of judicial procedure.”
Hearing of the Suit
The above principle with reference to hearing by a quasi-judicial forum is not applicable to all situations in the hearing of the suit. “Hearing of the suit” as understood is not confined to oral hearing. “Hearing of the suit” begins when the evidence in the suit begins and is concluded by the pronouncement of judgment.
The Code contemplates that at various stages of the hearing of the suit, the Judge may change or he may be prevented from concluding the trial and in that situation, the successor Judge must proceed in the suit from the stage the predecessor Judge has left it.
Order XVIII Rule 2 of the Code gives an option to the parties to argue their case when the evidence is conducted and it is for them to decide whether they will avail themselves of this privilege and if they do not, they do so at their peril.
In the case of ‘Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal v. M.S.M.S.S. Food Products, (2011)’, the court while deciding a case held that,
“Insofar as the case in hand is concerned, the right of the defendants to cross-examine plaintiff was closed on February 28, 2005. The matter was then fixed for March 17, 2005 for the remaining evidence of the plaintiff. On that day, none appeared for the defendants although the matter was called out twice. In that situation, the Judge ordered the suit to proceed ex parte against the defendants; heard the arguments of the plaintiff and closed the suit for pronouncement of judgment on March 28, 2005.
In these facts, the defendants, having lost their privilege of cross-examining the plaintiff’s witnesses and of advancing oral arguments, now cannot be permitted to raise any grievance that the successor Judge who delivered the judgment has not given them an opportunity of oral arguments.
The expressions “state his case“, “produce his evidence” and “address the court generally on the whole case” occurring in Order XVIII Rule 2, sub-rule (1) and sub-rule (2) have different meaning and connotation. By use of the expression “state his case“, the party before production of his evidence is accorded an opportunity to give general outlines of the case and also indicate generally the nature of evidence likely to be let in by him to prove his case. The general outline by a party before letting in evidence is intended to help the court in understanding the evidence likely to be followed by a party in support of his case.
After case is stated by a party, the evidence is produced by him to prove his case. After evidence has been produced by all the parties, a right is given to the parties to make oral arguments and also submit written submissions, if they so desire. The hearing of a suit does not mean oral arguments alone but it comprehends both production of evidence and arguments.
The scheme of the Code, as embodied, in Order XVIII Rule 2, particularly, sub-rules (1), (2), (3) and (3A) and Order XVIII Rule 15 enables the successor Judge to deliver the judgment without oral arguments where one party has already lost his right of making oral arguments and the other party does not insist on it.’
Reference
Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal v. M S M S S Food Products (2011)