Granting Adjournments to Party, Consequences of Absence in Civil Cases

Question: How many times can a court grant adjournments to a party during the hearing of a case and under what conditions? When a party fails to comply with a court order to pay the deferred costs, what shall be the effect? Is there any remedy against such consequences of the aggrieved party? Discuss.

Answer:

How many times the court can grant adjournments to any party:

According to Rule 1 (1) of Order-17 of the Civil Procedure Code, the court may at proper cause approve the parties or any of them at any stage of the case:

1. grant time and

2. may from time to time adjourn the hearing of the case.

Pursuant to Rule 1 (2) of Order-17, in each such case the court shall fix the date for the next hearing of the case and the court may make such order as it deems fit in respect of the adjourned expenses. If the hearing needs to be adjourned for a long time and before all the witnesses have completed their statements, the court may order such adjournment by recording the reasons.

Adjournment before final hearing or peremptory hearing:

As per Rule 1 (3) of Order-17, at the request of any party, the court shall not grant more than 6 adjournments before a peremptory hearing in a case. If a party applies for adjournment beyond limits, court shall compel the party to pay a minimum of tk.200 and maximum tk. 1000 within the period prescribed by it: if the plaintiff is unable to comply, the suit will be dismissed and if the defendant is unable to comply the suit shall be heard ex-parte. Provided, however, that the court shall not allow more than three adjournments to any party, even if costs are paid under this rule.

Adjournment at the stage of Final Hearing or peremptory hearing:

As per Rule 1 (4) of Order-17, the court will not grant adjournment at the stage of peremptory hearing. For the ends of justice, at the request of any party to the case, court may grant adjournment and order the party applying to pay a minimum of tk.200 and a maximum of tk. 1000/- to the other party within the time limit stipulated by it. No party shall be given more than 3 adjournments.

Pursuant to Rule-1 of Order-17, if the plaintiff fails to pay the cost of adjournment, the suit may be dismissed and if the defendant fails to pay the cost of adjournment, the suit may be decided ex-parte.

Remedy against such consequence of the aggrieved party:

According to rule 17 of order 17 of the code, where a suit has been dismissed or decided ex-parte, the aggrieved party may apply for reinstatement of the suit by depositing 2000 tk. as costs within 30 days.

Question: What are the consequences if a party is absent in a civil case?

Answer:

The result of absence during the hearing of the civil case is stated in rules 3, 6, 8, 10 and 11 of Order 9 of the Civil Procedure Code 1908. The result of absence during the hearing of the civil case is discussed below:

1. If neither the plaintiff nor the defendant appear, the case will be dismissed:

Pursuant to Rule 3 of Order 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, the court may order dismissal of the case if both the plaintiff and the defendant are absent on the day of hearing of the case.

2. Only the plaintiff is present but the defendant is absent:

In accordance with Rule 6 of order 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908:

1. If the summons is properly issued, the court may grant an ex-parte decree.

2. If the summons is not issued properly, the court will direct the plaintiff to issue a second summons to the defendant.

3. If the summons is properly issued, but the defendant is not given sufficient time to appear and respond on the specified date, the court will adjourn the hearing of the case and fix a later date.

4. If the summons is not issued for the error of the plaintiff or is not issued within sufficient time, the plaintiff will bear the cost of adjourning the hearing of the case.

3. Only the respondent is present but the plaintiff is absent:

According to Rule 8 of Order 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, if only the respondent appeared but the plaintiff was absent on the day of hearing of the case, in that case, if the respondent agrees with the plaintiff's claim, court will issue a decree on behalf of the plaintiff and if the defendant refuses the claim, court will order dismissal of the case.

4. One or more of the plaintiffs were absent

In accordance with Rule 10 of Order 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, in cases where there is more than one plaintiff, if one or more of the plaintiffs appears and the others do not appear, the court may at the request of the plaintiff/plaintiffs those who have appeared, order the completion of the suit or any better order as it thinks fit, in the manner, as if all the plaintiffs appeared.

5. Procedure for Absence of One or More Defendants:

According to Rule 9 of Order 11 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, in cases where there is more than one defendant, if one or more defendants appear and the others do not appear, the case will proceed and the judgment be pronounced. In due course the court will issue any appropriate order regarding the defendants in absentia.

Question: What is the remedy if the case is dismissed due to absence?

Answer:

What the remedy is if the case is dismissed due to absence:

A plaint may be dismissed under rule 3 and 8 of order 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure, due to the absence of the plaintiff. If the case is dismissed for such reasons, the remedy is described in Rule 4,9 and 9A of the order 9.

The remedies are:

1. The plaintiff will be able to file a new case (subject to the Limitation Act).

2. The plaintiff can apply for setting of the dismissal order.

However, in this case, the plaintiff will satisfy the court by saying that there are sufficient reasons for not appearing. Generally speaking, there are enough reasons to say that any event that happens out of human control. Such as the Act of God, sickness, etc. It is also said that the mistake of the court or the advocate is also a sufficient reason to satisfy the court.

2. Plaintiff's remedy if the case is dismissed under Rule 8 of Order 9:

According to Rule 8 of Rule 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, where only the defendant appears on the day of hearing of the case but the plaintiff is absent, in that case, if the respondent agrees with the plaintiff's claim, court will issue a decree on behalf of the plaintiff and if the defendant denies the claim, court will order dismissal of the case. If the case is dismissed under Rule 8 of Order 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, the plaintiff may apply for setting aside the dismissal order or obtain any of the following remedies against the said order:

1. Setting aside of dismissal order:

According to Rule 8 of Order 9 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, if the case is dismissed, the plaintiff will not be able to file a new case. But may apply for setting aside of the dismissal order, citing reasonable grounds. The court will not set aside the order dismissing the case without giving notice to the defendant regarding the plaintiff's application. The plaintiff shall, in accordance with Rule 9 of Order-9 of the Civil Procedure Code, apply to the ordering court to set aside the dismissal order, within 30 days as per Article-163 of the Limitation Act. In this case, if the plaintiff can convince the court that he could not appear in court on the day of hearing of the case due to sufficient reasons, the court will order the setting aside of the dismissal order and set a date for trial of the original case. Appropriate reason is a matter of information that is judged by the situation or event.

2. Directly setting aside the dismissal order:

According to rule 9A of order 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure, plaintiff may after fulfilling the following conditions, apply for directly setting aside the dismissal order:

1. File an application within 30 days

2. File the application with the affidavit

3. Serve notice to the other party

Court may order the plaintiff to provide compensation to the other party not exceeding 1000 taka.

However, court shall not make such order for more than one time and Plaintiff needs not show reason for his absence.

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