Court Can Compel Lawyer To Conclude Cross Examination On Same Day Only In Rarest Circumstances: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has said that a court cannot compel a lawyer to conclude cross examination on the very day it starts, except in rarest of circumstances.

"While it is open to a Court to jettison irrelevant and immaterial questions, if asked by Counsel, nonetheless, save and except in the rarest of circumstances, the Court cannot compel a Counsel to conclude cross-examination on the very day when it starts," Justice C Hari Shankar observed.

The observation was made by the court in its order dated October 27 on a plea challenging a civil judge's order closing the right of the defendant to cross examine a plaintiff witness in a suit.

The Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner (defendant in the suit) apprised the court that after examination of the witness in question, the cross-examination was commenced at 3 PM and continued for three hours till 6:10 PM after which an adjournment was sought for further cross-examination which was declined by the civil judge.

Discharging the witness and declining the request for adjournment, the civil judge in the order had said:

"It is 06:10 PM already and ld. counsel for the defendant seeks adjournment on the ground that another counsel who has to cross examine the witness has not appeared today. It is pertinent to mention that the evidence had started at 12 : 15 PM and the cross examination of PW1 was deferred at 1 PM. Thereafter, the evidence was resumed at 3 PM, and the plaintiff witness has been examined at length. The Court is not unmindful of the fact that the plaintiff is an 80 yrs old citizen and despite the time constrain, several irrelevant questions have already been asked. Furthermore, perusal of the case file reveals that Sh.Vinay Pathak, ld. counsel for the defendant has been appearing in the present matter on all the dates and another counsel Sh.V.P. Rana has appeared only twice in the span of last 3 yrs."

In appeal, Justice Shankar observed that since the cross-examination of the witness commenced only at 12.15 PM, the trial court, prima facie, was not justified in rejecting the petitioner's request seeking permission to continue cross-examination on the next date of hearing.

"That apart, the factors which have made with the learned Civil Judge in refusing the petitioner's request for further opportunity to cross-examine PW-1, as reflected in the impugned order dated 14th September 2022, cannot be treated as relevant. All that the learned Civil Judge observes is that the plaintiff was 80 years of age and several irrelevant questions had been put to her," said Justice Shankar.

Allowing the petition, the court said petitioner ought to be allowed to continue cross-examination of the witness on the next date of hearing when the matter is listed before the civil judge.

"The petitioner is directed to endeavour and make all efforts to conclude the cross- examination of PW-1 on the said date. No adjournment would be granted to the petitioner in that regard," the court ordered while disposing of the plea.

Title: SUNITA v. PREMWATI

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Del) 1056

Click Here To Read Order