In a recent judgment, the Rajasthan High Court upheld the Trial Court’s decision to reject an application by the plaintiffs who sought to submit a certified copy of a sale deed 13 years after the original suit was filed.
The matter relates to a land dispute where the plaintiffs had alleged that a piece of land left for public use was fraudulently sold by the defendant. The plaintiffs had already attached a photocopy of a sale deed to the plaint in 2011, but they failed to take any steps to submit the certified copy until 2024.
The application to submit this document was filed under Order VII Rule 14 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). However, the Trial Court denied the application, citing an unreasonable delay and lack of diligence from the plaintiffs. This decision was later challenged in the High Court.
Justice Rekha Borana, while dismissing the petition, observed:
“This Court is of the opinion that merely for the reason that the suit is at stage of plaintiffs' evidence, there is no inherent right available to the plaintiffs to produce a document which was in their knowledge right from the time of filing of the suit.”
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The Court also noted:
“No steps to procure the certified copy of the sale deed in question were taken prior to the year 2024. Considering the fact that the plaintiffs were aware of the sale deed right from the date of filing the plaint i.e. 08.09.2011, yet did not choose to place the certified copy on record for a period of more than 13 years, the learned Trial Court rightly rejected the application.”
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Additionally, it was found that the plaintiffs had already been granted 13 chances to present their evidence, making the delay even more unjustified.
Title: LRs of Avtar Singh & Ors. v LRs of Gajanand & Ors.
