The Supreme Court has clarified that a Written Statement filed during the COVID-19 limitation extension period cannot be rejected for delay, even if submitted after the statutory 120-day window.
A bench led by Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria overturned the Karnataka High Court’s decision, which had upheld a Commercial Court order rejecting a defendant’s Written Statement filed on January 7, 2022. The High Court had argued the 120-day period ended on November 14, 2021, and held that the defendant forfeited the right to cross-examine witnesses.
The Supreme Court found that the statutory period for filing the Written Statement—from July 17 to November 14, 2021—fell entirely within the COVID-era limitation suspension ordered in In Re: Cognizance for Extension of Limitation (March 15, 2020 – February 28, 2022). Consequently, the defendant’s filing in January 2022 was legally valid.
“The High Court should have recognized that the filing fell within the extended COVID-19 period and allowed the Written Statement to be recorded, so the defendant could contest the suit on its merits,” the judgment noted.
On the issue of cross-examination, the Court emphasized that a defendant’s right to question witnesses does not disappear simply because a Written Statement was delayed. Citing Ranjit Singh v. State of Uttarakhand, the judgment highlighted that denying the right to cross-examine would effectively block a defendant from defending themselves.
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and sent the case back to the trial court for the Written Statement to be formally admitted.
