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18. Point No'3: It now remains to be seen whether the default committed by the appellants is wilful or deliberate so as to attract the operation of Order 11, Rule 21(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure. Rule 21(1) reads as follows:

21(1) where any party fails to comply with any order to answer interrogatories, or for discovery or inspection of documents, he shall, if a plaintiff, be liable to have his suit dismissed for want of prosecution, and, if a defendant, to have his defence, if any, struck out, and to be placed in the same position as if he had not defended, and the party interrogating or seeking discovery of inspection may, apply to the court for an order to that effect, and an order may be made on such application accordingly, after notice to the parties and after giving them a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
The provisions of Order 11, Rule 21(1) are very stringent and have to be applied with great care and caution. The guidelines for invoking this provision have thus been laid down by the Supreme Court in M/s Babbar Sewing Machine Co. v. Tirlok Nath Maha Jan .
The test laid down is whether the default is wilful. In the case of a plaintiff, it entails in the dismissal of the suit and, therefore, an order for dismissal ought not to be made under Order 11, Rule 21, unless the court is satisfied that the plaintiff was wilfully withholding information by refusing to answer interrogatories or by withholding the documents which the ought to discover. In such an event, the plaintiff must take the consequence of having his claim dismissed due to his default, i.e., by suppression of information which he was bound to give: "Denvillier v. Myers 1883 W.N. 58. In the case of the defendant, he is visited with the penalty that his defence is liable to be struck out and to be placed in the same position as if he had not defended the suit.... The principle governing the court's exercise of its discretion under Order 11, Rule 21, as already stated, is that it is only when the default is wilful and as a last resort that the court should dismiss the suit or strike out the defence, when the party is guilty of such contumacious conduct 6r there is a wilful attempt to disregard the order of the court.