Section 91 in Civil Court Rules of the High Court of Judicature at Patna
91.
Dates for the hearing of cases ought not to be fixed at random or automatically as a matter of form. It is a matter that should be controlled by the Presiding Officer himself and not left to the discretion of subordinates. While it is desirable that a case should be disposed of as early as possible it is no less important that care should be taken to see that the parties are not put to the expense and inconvenience of having to attend on a date when it is manifest that the case cannot be taken up. The date for hearing should, therefore, be fixed with due regard to the state of the file, the nature of the case and the time it is likely to occupy. If the file is congested it is better to fix a distant date than to require the parties to appear, even without their witnesses, from month to month on dates on which there is no reasonable expectation that the case will be heard. In contested suits, the pleaders of the parties should be consulted whenever it is practicable to do so. It may well be that in some instances it is less hardship to detain the witnesses from day to day than to discharge them, requiring them to return after a considerable interval. In every case, however, the adjournment must be to a day certain and judicial proceeding of whatever nature shall be postponed sine die. [G.L. 14/19, G.L. 3/22, G.L. 6/45, G.L. 1/54, G.L. 7/61, G.L. 9/64.]
