Civil Revision No. 983 of 2009 (1) In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh Civil Revision No. 983 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 25.2.2009 Kuldeep Singh ..... Petitioner vs Jatinder Pal ..... Respondent Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Ms. Anju Arora, Advocate, for the petitioner. Rajesh Bindal J. Prayer in the present petition filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India is for setting aside order dated 5.2.2009 (Annexure P-1) passed by the learned court below, whereby on account of non-filing of written statement by the petitioner, his defence was struck off. For the view I am taking in the present petition, I do not deem it appropriate to issue notice to the respondent, as the same would unnecessarily delay not only the disposal of the present petition but also the suit as well. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner/ defendant recevied the summons to appear only on 10.12.2008. He appeared through his counsel on that day and the case was adjourned to 23.1.2009. On the said date of hearing, the Presiding Officer was on leave and the case was adjourned to 5.2.2009, on which date the defence of the petitioner was struck off. She further submitted that no effective proceedings have taken place after the passing of the impugned orders. She has relied upon judgments of Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Kailash vs Nanhku and others, JT 2005(4) SC 204; Salem Advocate Bar Association, Tamil Nadu v. Union of India, JT 2005(6) SC 486 and M/s R. N. Jadi and Brothers and others v. Subhashchandra, JT 2007(9) SC 165 to submit that Order VIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure has been held to be directory in nature and not mandatory. After hearing learned counsel for the petitioner, I find merit in the contentions raised by her. It has been consistently opined by Hon'ble the Civil Revision No. 983 of 2009 (2) Supreme Court in the judgments, referred to above, that Order VIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure which provides time for filing of written statement is directory in nature and further there is not much delay in filing of written statement by the petitioner as he appeared for the first time merely on 10.12.2008. The case is now fixed for 9.3.2009 before the learned court below. Accordingly, the petition is accepted. The petitioner is permitted to file written statement before the learned court below on or before the next date of hearing i.e. 9.3.2009. The issues already framed may be modified or reframed keeping in view the stand of the petitioner/defendant in the written statement to be file. However, the same shall be subject to payment of Rs. 3,000/- as costs to respondent. 25.2.2009 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge