Chander Kanta Bansal vs Rajinder Singh Anand on 11 March, 2008
23. Though the counsel for the appellants have cited many
decisions, on perusal, we are of the view that some of those
cases have been decided prior to the insertion of Order VI
Rule 17 with proviso or on the peculiar facts of that case.
This Court in various decisions upheld the power that in
deserving cases, the Court can allow delayed amendment by
compensating the other side by awarding costs. The entire
object of the amendment to Order VI Rule 17 as introduced
in 2002 is to stall filing of application for amending a
pleading subsequent to the commencement of trial, to avoid
surprises and that the parties had sufficient knowledge of
other's case. It also helps checking the delays in filing the
applications. [vide Aniglase Yohannan vs. Ramlatha and
Others, (2005) 7 SCC 534, Ajendraprasadji N. Pandey and
Another vs. Swami Keshavprakeshdasji N. and Others,
Chander Kanta Bansal vs. Rajinder Singh Anand, (2008) 5
SCC 117, Rajkumar Guraward (dead) through LRS.