Civil suit for partition

If the judge was on leave and also as the court had posted the matter with long duration without any specific instructioon to file the written statement  neither the court taken any action to set the defendants exparte for not filing the written statement, you may have to wait for the next hearing to put pressure on court about it and not before that.

Any suit for partition do not fall under the catagory of "URGENT" case to be taken up and heard during leave or absence of Presiding Officer / holiday/ vacations. 

Subsequently you have mentioned in the post, inter alia, that, "...The judge asked the defendants lawyer why was written statement not filed so far for which defendants lawyer said sorry." It is an impratical and unbelievable statement.

In the next part of your post you have stated that, "Can I as an appellant  object for delay in filing the written statement and matter to be decided with records available in my suit..."   Are you plaintiff or  appeallant in the instant suit for partition, where written statement of defendant is yet to be filed as per your own statement, be clear.

You may raise the objection for the sake of objection, otherwise, it (objection) is not maintainable.

Presumably you do not have basic knowlege of the procedure and law applicable on the subject matter. 

It is better to contact, consult and engage some or another prudent lawyer for proper analyses of facts/ documents, professional advise and necessary proceeding if you are appearing as "party-in-person" or lost faith in your lawyer.

Here the judge was on leave only yesterday while the summons was issued in Jan 2025. Order 8 Rule 1 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (‘Code’ for short) provides that the defendant shall, within 30 days from the date of service of summons on him, present a written statement of his defence. Where the defendant fails to file the written statement within the said period of 30 days, he shall be allowed to file the written statement on such other day, as may be specified by the court, for reasons to be recorded in writing and on payment of such costs as the court deems fit, but which shall not be later than 120 days from the date of service of summons and on expiry of 120 days from the date of service of summons, the defendant shall forfeit the right to file the written statement and the court shall not allow the written statement to be taken on record. 

In this case no request was made by the defendants lawyer for condonation. Instead of filing written statement the defendants lawyer has filed vakalatnama which is absurd. The time limit and the extended period of time limit are mandatory and not directory. Therefore the written statement is to be filed within 30 days. If the same could not be filed within the said limitation it can file within 90 days by condoning the delay by the Court. 

Please throw some light on the above.

You know that the written statement can be filed on the date of hearing and not before that, especially when the presiding officer is on leave the court staff calling the cases may not be interested to pursue the progress of the matter in any  case and would adjourn the cases as it is,  therefore the defendant is not at fault for delay in filing written statement because his written statement can be filed only on the date of hearing. By merely reproducing the provisions of law you cannot enforce what you are intending by this post. 

It is better to consult a local prudent lawyer with relevant records for proper analyses, professional advise and necessary proceeding if you have lost faith in your lawyer.

If the hearing is scheduled after 30 days, the written statement is still initially filed with the court where the case is being heard, regardless of the hearing date. The 30-day (or extended 90-day) time limit for filing the written statement is a procedural rule for when the defendant must submit their response, but it doesn't change where the document is initially filed. 

I think to give relevance to 30 days limit the above is the interpretation.

The provision of Order VIII Rule 1 CPC for filing of written statement is compulsory but not mandatory in terms of ruling passed by Supreme Court in the case titled Salem Advocates Bar Association Vs. Union of India and some other similar judgment(s).

The Court may allow defendant to file written statement even after 120 days (except Commercial suit(s)).

Presumably you are counsel for plaintiff or party-in-person, can you disclose as to what is your concern / locus standi to the subject suit ?

Thanks for the efforts.