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Written Statement

Brief description on written statement

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109 views

Written Statement

Brief description on written statement

Uploaded by

madhu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Written Statement (Order VII) CPC

Written statement is pleading of the defendant in the answer of the plaint filed by the
plaintiff against him. It is a reply statement of the defendant in a suit specifically
denying the allegations made against him by the plaintiff in his plaint.

1. WS is required to be filed by the defendant in response to the claim made by the


plaintiff in his plaint. The plaint is delivered to the defendant along with the
summons to appear before the court for hearing.
2. Before drafting the WS, the defendant should verify the provisions set out for
drafting a plaint under order VI of CPC.
3. Defendant should examine whether the suit if barred under Order II of Rule 2 of
CPC, study the material facts, and if the documents are stamped.
4. Defendant should study order VIII, make sure set off or counter-claim is to be
pleaded or not and if the claim is barred under principle of Res Judicata.
5. In a WS, def should mention name of the court or judge at the top, followed by
names of the parties first mentioned.
6. The defendant should reply to all the paras of the plaint unless there is
preliminary objection.
7. The defendant can add additional facts or pleas in the WS.
8. The defendant should not generally deny the grounds alleged by the plaintiff, but
he must deal specifically with each allegation of fact which he does not accept. If
the defendant will not deny specifically the allegations of facts in the plaint, they
shall be taken to be admitted.

Effects of non-filling of the WS


1. If the defendant does not file his WS, it could not be said that he admitted all the
facts pleaded by the plaintiff. The defendant can take part in the hearing even
without filing a WS.
2. He may cross examine the witness of plaintiff to demolish their version in
examination on chief but cannot be permitted to cross examine the witness on
questions of fact which he himself has not pleaded. (Chunni Lal Chawdhary V
Bank of Baroda, 1981 Sri L.J 411)
3. The defendant can be allowed to amend the WS if it is likely to resolve the real
controversy between the parties.

Structure of the WS- refer page 13 of unique


The WS can be divided into following parts:
1. Heading and Title or formal portion:
2. Body of the WS:
a. Admissions and denial
i. The defendant should take each fact in the same order in which it is
alleged in the plaint and should either admit it or deny it or when the
defendant has no knowledge of it, he may refuse to admit it.
ii. General denial is not sufficient. A denial may be total or partial. When
the denial is total ie when the defendant wholly and categorically
denies the allegations in WS the defense is said to be in traverse.
iii. If the defendant does not deny the facts in claim clearly which he
intends to deny, then it runs of risk of being taken to have been
admitted, for there is a rule that every allegation if not denied
specifically or by necessary implications, shall be taken to be
admitted. Badat & Co. V East India Trading Co. AIR 1964)
iv. Following are four exceptions to the general rule that admissions and
denials should be specific:
1. Matter or inferences of law if pleaded in the plaint, need not be
traversed because Order 8, Rule 3 CPC applies to facts only.
2. The defe need not plead to claim or amount of damage in the
plaint.
3. No pleading is necessary to the formal allegations of the facts
relating to jurisdiction of the court or the valuation of the suit.
But it becomes necessary when the defendant denies the facts
on which the plaintiff bases the jurisdiction of the court.
4. The relief sought need not be specifically denied. According to
rule 5, every allegation of fact in the plaint will be deemed to be
admitted if in the WS it is neither specifically denied not
admitted.
v. There is a conflict of Judicial opinion on the question whether the
omission to file a WS should be regarded as admission of claim by
implication. Some HC have held that if a defendant does not file a plain
allegation the same stands admitted and the case is ex parte decreed.
2. Denial must not be evasive
i. Order 8, Rule 4 denies evasive denial of plaint’s allegations. Where a
defendant wants to deny any allegation of fact in the plaint, he must
do so clearly, specifically and explicitly and not evasively or generally.
ii. In Sangram Singh v Election Tribunal, AIR 1955 SC 425, SC has
excused the delay in filing the WS with imposition of certain
conditions.
iii. In Ramesh Chandra V Bank of India (1990) the rule has been followed.
Order 8, Rule 10 states that when any defendant who is required to
file a WS under Rule 2 and Rule 9, fails to do so, then the court will
pronounce, a judgement against him or make such an order as it
deems fit. After the pronouncement of the judgement, decree will be
drawn up.

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