Insofar as the power of the trial court in the summary suit under Order XXXVII, CPC to summon any person for production of document is concerned, it is pertinent to note that for grant of leave to appear and defend the suit under Order XXXVII, CPC, the court is to satisfy itself that the defendant has taken defence to claim on merits raising triable issue indicating that he has fair, bona fide and reasonable defence and if the defendant has no defence or the defence is sham or illusory, the defendant is not entitled to such leave by the court. During this process, it is the satisfaction of the court which is important. In order to satisfy itself to the contents of leave to appear and defend, the court is required not to act in a mechanical manner. Instead the trial court has to apply its judicial mind to the contents of the application for leave to appear and defend. The trial court is not debarred to probe and conduct such an inquiry so as to satisfy itself as to the genuineness and plausibility of the defence of the defendant. For this purpose, as discussed hereinabove, the plaintiff in such suits is not debarred to move an application for summoning a document in custody of any person, which prima facie establishes before the court that the defence taken in the application for leave to appear in the summary suit is sham and illusory, which is precisely the case in the matter in hand.
Civil Revision=31217/21
Muhammad Javed Azmi Vs Javed Arshad etc Mr. Justice Anwaar Hussain
19-05-2021
2021 LHC 1101
0 Comments