Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

"10. As observed above at the preliminary stage of hearing on the application the court is required to decide whether the applicant should be allowed to interrogate the other side, but is not to determine what question should the opposite party be compelled to answer. Interrogatories may then be served on the other party for his answer to that on affidavit. The party, who has been served with Interrogatories, will then answer the Interrogatories on affidavit or raise objections about the relevancy or they being of scandalous nature, irrelevant, not bona fide, or not to be answered on the ground of privilege etc., in answer. The court then may consider and dispose of the Interrogatories. It will not for the court at this stage of granting leave to consider what particular questions the party interrogated should be compelled to answer. Proper time for considering that question is after the party interrogated has filed its affidavit in answer."
21. The provisions of Order XI of the CPC are intended to curtail evidence thereby expediting trial of suit, saving time of the Court and costs of litigation to the parties. They have to be liberally used and parties have to be encouraged to use them in the course of trial. One of the great objects of interrogatories when properly administered has always been to save evidence that is to diminish the burden of proof which was otherwise on the plaintiff. Their object is not merely to discover facts which will inform the plaintiff as to evidence to be obtained, but also to save the expense of proving a part on the case. Interrogatories are not limited to giving the plaintiff a knowledge on that which he does not already know but include the getting an admission of anything which he has to prove on any issue which is raised between him and the defendant. (Ref: Attorney-General v. Gashill (1882) 20 Ch. 519). Order XI gives a party a right to interrogate with a view to obtaining an admission from his opponent of everything which is material and relevant to the issue raised on the pleadings. The object is to obtain an admission from the opponent which will make the burden of proof easier than it otherwise would have been. Interrogatories are admissible which go to support the applicant's case or to impeach or destroy the opponent's case. (Ref: Plymouth Mutual Co-op. Society v. Traders Publishing Association (1906) 1 LJ 415.)
24. When the interrogatories proposed to be administered are examined in the light of the above referred legal propositions, it is clear that answer to the interrogatories may have the effect of shortening the litigation."

21. When examined in the light of parameters laid down in the aforesaid judgments, clearly, the Trial Court has misdirected itself in rejecting the application filed by the petitioner under Order XI Rule 1 of the CPC. While deciding the said application under Order XI Rule 1 of the CPC, the Trial Court had to only consider whether answer to the said interrogatories would have some bearing on the issues involved in the case and whether the same could be necessary for fair adjudication of the dispute. The very object of the interrogatories is to know the case of the opposite party and to, therefore, shorten the trial and limit the scope of the cross-examination. The Courts should be liberal and should not be hyper-technical in allowing the use of interrogatories in a suit. Interrogatories also enable a party to obtain an admission from the opponent, which reduces the scope of trial and the cost of litigation for the parties. Once the Court comes to the conclusion that the interrogatories are relevant for proper adjudication of the case, the interrogatories are served upon the other party and the said other party has to answer the interrogatories on affidavit or objections can be raised on the ground that the said interrogatories are scandalous in nature or are not relevant or not bona fide for the purposes of the suit or on the ground of privilege. The objections on the grounds above have to be taken on affidavit. It is at that stage that the Court has to consider which of the questions in the interrogatories the party should be compelled to answer.

"6. It is needless to point out that the purpose of providing the procedure of discovery by interrogatories in the Code of Civil Procedure is to shorten the litigation or at least save the time and expenses connected therewith. It enables a party to obtain an admission from the opponent which renders his burden of proof a bit lighter. The second proviso to Rule 1 of Order XI uses the expression "matters in question", which expression has its own significance and importance. The expression "matters" means a question or issue in dispute or in action and not the thing about which such dispute arises. The object of the provision is to secure all material documents and to put an end to lengthy enquiry with regard to document/material in possession of the other party. There are however limits to the utilities of the power to order interrogatories to be answered. Those limits are set by the rules of relevancy, by the demands of decency and propriety, and by the even wider basic requirements of fair play, justice and equity. For example, although one of the object of the interrogatories is to ascertain an adversary's case, yet they cannot be permitted to be used by a party, merely to obtain any disclosure beforehand of evidence supporting the adversary's case as this would give one party an unfair advantage over the other.