'Procedure Is Handmaiden Of Justice But It Can't Be Defeated In The Name Of Substantive Rights': Delhi High Court

“Even the substantive rights have to be claimed and granted following procedure prescribed by law…The entire purpose of codification of the civil procedure would be rendered otiose if not adhered to,” Justice Girish Kathpalia said.

The bench was dealing with a petition moved by ICAR National Research Center Of Plant Biotechnology— defendant in a suit for recovery of money, assailing an order whereby its defence was struck off.

The High Court noted that the Petitioner-defendant was served summons in the suit in July 2018 but it failed to file a Written Statement till January 2019, leading to the trial court striking off its defence.

Flagging the "colossal delay” of almost a year and the “routine” explanation of delays in government machinery offered by the defendant, the High said the petition is not fit to even issue notice.

“There is no separate procedural law for government authorities…Ample opportunities were given to the present petitioner for filing the Written Statement but the same were not availed of…There is not even a whiff of any averment in the case set up by the petitioner to reflect any exceptional circumstances, which could justify condonation of delay.”

It added,

“The petitioner being an instrumentality of State, owing to impersonal machinery, certain lethargy and carelessness, if not deliberate default to help the other party, cannot be ruled out…In a case where the government authorities are able to establish the cause of the default as a fraud or connivance of its officers with the opposite party, status may be different. But that is not the present case.”

As such, the petition was dismissed.

Appearance: Mr. S. S. Lingwal, Advocate for Petitioner

Case title: ICAR National Research Center Of Plant Biotechnology v. Azad Singh Dagar Prop M/S Servitor Intelligence

Case no.: CM(M) 1757/2025

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