Transfer To Commercial Court Doesn't Bar Additional Written Statement Or Counterclaim If Leave Granted Under CPC: Calcutta High Court

Holding that the Code of Civil Procedure does not prohibit a defendant from filing an additional written statement or counterclaim with the leave of the court even after an earlier written statement has been submitted, the Calcutta High Court refused to interfere with an order of the Commercial Court accepting a fresh written statement along with a counterclaim after transfer of the suit.

Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) observed that subsequent pleadings are legally permissible under Order VIII Rules 6A, 8 and 9 of the CPC, and once the trial court grants leave, such filings cannot be termed illegal or without jurisdiction.

The Court emphasised that transfer of a pending matter to a Commercial Court under the Commercial Courts Act does not extinguish substantive procedural rights of parties, nor does it bar counterclaims arising from later events, adding that supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 cannot be invoked to re-appreciate a discretionary procedural order unless there is patent illegality.

The dispute arose from a money suit filed by Batliboi Environmental Engineering Limited against Eastern Metec Private Limited. Although the defendant had initially filed a written statement without any counterclaim before the civil court, the matter was later transferred to the Commercial Court at Alipore, where mediation failed.

The defendant then sought leave to place an additional written statement incorporating a counterclaim, which the Commercial Court permitted.

Challenging this, the plaintiff contended that Section 15(3) of the Commercial Courts Act did not envisage a de novo proceeding and argued that allowing a counterclaim after the first written statement would prejudice the case.

Rejecting these submissions, the High Court held that the trial court acted within its statutory powers and that the order neither caused irreparable prejudice nor suffered from jurisdictional error, warranting dismissal of the revision petition.

Case: Batliboi Environmental Engineering Limited Vs Eastern Metec Private Limited

Case No: C.O. 3320 of 2022

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