1 2025:CGHC:56699 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WP227 No.1169 of 2025 1 - Astvinayak Township Pvt. Ltd., Through Director Rajiv Bharadwaj, S/o Suresh Bharadwaj, R/o Near Ayush Petrol Pump, Padum Nagar Bhilai-3, District Durg, C.G. ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - Munni Bai W/o Ramdhar Aged About 68 Years D/o Late Shyamlal Suryavanshi, R/o Ward No. 10, Kundrapara Tifra, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 2 - Kailasha Bai W/o Nathlal Aged About 63 Years D/o Late Shyamlal Suryavanshi, R/o Ward No. 10, Bhagat Singh Aazad Nagar, Kundrapara, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 3 - Mahesh Kumar Gadewal S/o Late Dharam Lal Aged About 50 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Sakri, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 4 - Durgesh Gadewal S/o Late Dharam Lal Aged About 45 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Sakri, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 5 - Kamlesh S/o Late Dharam Lal R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Sakri, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 6 - Sita Bai D/o Late Dharam Lal W/o Nawal, R/o Village Nargoda Sipat, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 7 - Rahaslal S/o Late Shyam Lal Aged About 68 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Sakri, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 8 - Santram S/o Late Shyam Lal Aged About 67 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Sakri, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 9 - Ramesh Kumar S/o Late Malikram Aged About 58 Years R/o Plot Behind M/s Laxmi Marbal Stone Factory, Tifra Bilaspur Tehsil And District- Bilaspur, C.G. 10 - Vijay Kumar S/o Late Suresh Kumar Aged About 32 Years R/o Plot Behind M/s Laxmi Marbal Stone Factory, Tifra Bilaspur Tehsil And District- Bilaspur, C.G. 11 - Ajay Kumar S/o Late Suresh Kumar Aged About 31 Years R/o Plot Behind M/s Laxmi Marbal Stone Factory, Tifra Bilaspur Tehsil And District- Bilaspur, C.G. 12 - Laxmi Bai Wd/o Late Suresh Kumar Aged About 30 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 13 - Shakun Bai Wd/o Late Suresh Kumar Aged About 48 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 14 - Naresh Kumar S/o Late Malikram Aged About 48 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 15 - Rajendra Kumar S/o Late Malikram Aged About 45 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 16 - Ravindra Kumar S/o Late Malikram Aged About 43 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 17 - Kuwara Bai D/o Late Malikram Aged About 46 Years R/o Village Sakri Post Sakri, Tehsil Sakri, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 18 - Jamuna Bai D/o Late Malikram Aged About 38 Years W/o Ramratan, R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Sakri, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 19 - Triveni Bai D/o Late Malikram Aged About 37 Years R/o Talapara, Tehsil And District Bilaspur, C.G. 20 - Ganga Bai D/o Late Malikram Aged About 36 Years R/o Masturi, Tehsil Masturi, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 21 - Saraswati Bai Wd/o Late Ramkumar R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 2 22 - Ranjit Gadewal S/o Late Ramkumar R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 23 - Satish Gadewal S/o Late Ramkumar R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 24 - Ranjita D/o Late Ramkumar R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 25 - Pawan Kumar S/o Late Rajaram Aged About 46 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 26 - Parmeshwar S/o Late Rajaram Aged About 43 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 27 - Ashwani Kumar S/o Late Rajaram Aged About 31 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 28 - Durga Prasad S/o Late Rajaram Aged About 35 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 29 - Shukla Prasad S/o Late Rajaram Aged About 43 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 30 - Savitri Bai D/o Late Rajaram Aged About 53 Years W/o Gorelal, R/o Village Kirari, Tehsil Masturi, District Bilaspur, C.G. 31 - Kavita Bai D/o Late Rajaram Aged About 43 Years W/o Mulchand, R/o Village Nagoi (Baima) Tehsil And District- Bilaspur, C.G. 32 - Anand Bai D/o Late Rajaram Aged About 32 Years R/o Khaleraj Mohgaon, Tehsil Sakti District Janjgir-Champa, C.G. 33 - Umesh Kumar S/o Late Radheshyam Aged About 48 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 34 - Vinod Kumar S/o Late Radheshyam Aged About 46 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 35 - Surendra Kumar S/o Late Radheshyam Aged About 43 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 36 - Asha Bai D/o Late Radheshyam Aged About 38 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 37 - Uttrabai Wd/o Late Radheshyam Aged About 73 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 38 - Chandrika Bai Wd/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 61 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 39 - Shatrughan S/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 35 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 40 - Bharat S/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 31 Years R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 41 - Anju D/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 48 Years W/o Kuwar, R/o Village Beltukri, Tehsil Ganiyari, District Bilaspur, C.G. 42 - Manju D/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 45 Years W/o Kailash, R/o Village Semra, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 43 - Bhagwati D/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 32 Years W/o Durga Prasad, R/o Sipat, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 44 - Krishna Bai D/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 39 Years W/o Munna, R/o Village Ameri Tehsil Takhatpur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 45 - Sahodra Bai D/o Late Ganeshram Aged About 37 Years R/o Kauantaal, Sipat, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 46 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Collector Bilaspur, District- Bilaspur, C.G. 47 - Geeta Bai (Since Died) Nil 48 - Suresh Kumar (Since Died) Nil 49 - Ganeshram (Since Died) Nil ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner/Defendant No.47 : Mr. Manoj Paranjpe, Senior Advocate along with Mr. Praveen Kumar Tulsyan,Adv. 3 For State/respondent No.46 : Mr. Pramod Shrivastava, Dy. G.A. Hon’ble Shri Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey Order On Board 21.11.2025 1) The petitioner has filed this petition seeking the following relief(s): “a. The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call for the entire records pertaining to the Civil suit No. 97-A/2023, pending before the Court of Seventh District Judge, Bilaspur District Bilaspur (C.G.). b. The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ for directing to the trial court to conclusion of Civil suit No. 97-A/2023, pending before the Court of Seventh District Judge, Bilaspur District Bilaspur (C.G.) in a time bound manner. c. The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue any other writ, order, direction, which this Hon'ble Court finds appropriate and suitable in favour of the petitioners. d. Cost of the petition be awarded.” 2) Mr. Paranjpe, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner/Defendant No.47 would submit that the petitioner/defendant No.47 purchased total 6.026 hectares of lands from various individuals for development and construction of the colony at Village Ameri, Patwari Circle No.26, Tehsil Sakri, District Bilaspur. He would further submit that the petitioner herein started development work but there was some dispute between the family members of the plaintiffs and therefore, a suit was filed on 08.09.2023 for declaration of title, partition, possession and permanent injunction interalia on the ground that there was no partition of the suit property and the seller had no right to alienate the entire property without obtaining consent of the co-sharers. Mr. Paranjpe would contend that there are total 47 defendants. The defendant No.47/petitioner has already filed his written statement on 17.06.2025 but till date, some of the defendants have not filed their written statement despite availing opportunities granted by the learned Court below. He would further contend that on account of pendency of civil suit and interim order, the petitioner herein is unable to develop & sell the plots to its customers. He would also contend that the plaintiffs have invested huge amount in purchase and development of the 4 property. He would submit that the learned Trial Court granted many opportunities to the defendants No.1,6,8,10,14,27,29,33,36,37,39,40,41,42 & 45 but they have not filed their written statement till date, whereas, learned Trial Court granted them opportunity to file written statement on 28.01.2025, 20.02.2025, 24.04.2025, 17.06.2025, 17.07.2025, 22.08.2025 and 19.09.2025. He would submit that the learned Court below may be directed to proceed with the matter in accordance with the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Yashpal Jain Vs. Sushila Devi and others, reported in 2023 SCC online SC 1377,wherein, it is held that all courts at district and taluka level shall ensure that written statement is filed within the prescribed limit namely as prescribed under Order VIII Rule 1 of CPC preferably within 30 days. He would further contend that the learned Court below may be directed to conclude the proceedings of pending civil suit expeditiously strictly in accordance with law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the afore-stated case. 3) On the other hand, Mr. Shrivastava, learned Deputy Government Advocate appearing for the State would oppose the submissions made by learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner/Defendant No.47. 4) Heard the submissions made by the parties and perused the documents on record. 5) Admittedly, the suit was filed by the plaintiffs on 08.09.2023 and till date written statements have not been filed by many of the defendants despite repeated opportunities. 6) The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Yashpal Jain (supra) has categorically held that all courts at district and taluka level shall ensure that written statement is filed within the prescribed limit according to the provisions of Order VIII Rule 1 of CPC within 30 days. If time is extended beyond 30 days, the Court has to assign reasons as to why the time limit has been extended beyond 30 days. Thereafter, learned District Courts and Taluka Courts had to ensure that after the pleadings are complete, the parties should be called upon 5 to appear on the day fixed as indicated in Order X and record the admissions and denials and the court shall also direct the parties to the suit to opt for either mode of the settlement outside the court as specified in sub-Section (1) of Section 89 and at the option of the parties shall fix the date of appearance before such forum or authority and in the event of the parties opting to any one of the modes of settlement. 7) The directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Yashpal Jain (supra) in para No.47 is reproduced herein below : “47.The following directions are issued: “i. All courts at district and taluka levels shall ensure proper execution of the summons and in a time bound manner as prescribed under Order V Rule (2) of CPC and same shall be monitored by Principal District Judges and after collating the statistics they shall forward the same to be placed before the committee constituted by the High Court for its consideration and monitoring. ii. All courts at District and Taluka level shall ensure that written statement is filed within the prescribed limit namely as prescribed under Order VIII Rule 1 and preferably within 30 days and to assign reasons in writing as to why the time limit is being extended beyond 30 days as indicated under proviso to sub-Rule (1) of Order VIII of CPC. iii. All courts at Districts and Talukas shall ensure after the pleadings are complete, the parties should be called upon to appear on the day fixed as indicated in Order X and record the admissions and denials and the court shall direct the parties to the suit to opt for either mode of the settlement outside the court as specified in sub-Section (1) of Section 89 and at the option of the parties shall fix the date of appearance before such forum or authority and in the event of the parties opting to any one of the modes of settlement directions be issued to appear on the date, time and venue fixed and the parties shall so appear before such authority/forum without any further notice at such designated place and time and it shall also be made clear in the reference order that trial is fixed beyond the period of two months making it clear that in the event of ADR not being fruitful, the trial would commence on the next day so fixed and would proceed on day- to-day basis. iv. In the event of the party’s failure to opt for ADR namely resolution of dispute as prescribed under Section 89(1) the court should frame the issues for its determination within one week preferably, in the open court. v. Fixing of the date of trial shall be in consultation with the learned advocates appearing for the parties to enable them to adjust their calendar. Once the date of trial is fixed, the trial should proceed accordingly to the extent possible, on day-to-day basis. vi. Learned trial judges of District and Taluka Courts shall as far as possible maintain the diary for ensuring that only such number of cases as can be handled on any given day for trial and complete the recording of evidence so as to avoid overcrowding of the cases and as a sequence of it would result in adjournment being sought and thereby preventing any inconvenience being caused to the stakeholders. 6 vii. The counsels representing the parties may be enlightened of the provisions of Order XI and Order XII so as to narrow down the scope of dispute and it would be also the onerous responsibility of the Bar Associations and Bar Councils to have periodical refresher courses and preferably by virtual mode. viii. The trial courts shall scrupulously, meticulously and without fail comply with the provisions of Rule 1 of Order XVII and once the trial has commenced it shall be proceeded from day to day as contemplated under the proviso to Rule (2). ix. The courts shall give meaningful effect to the provisions for payment of cost for ensuring that no adjournment is sought for procrastination of the litigation and the opposite party is suitably compensated in the event of such adjournment is being granted. x. At conclusion of trial the oral arguments shall be heard immediately and continuously and judgment be pronounced within the period stipulated under Order XX of CPC. xi. The statistics relating to the cases pending in each court beyond 5 years shall be forwarded by every presiding officer to the Principal District Judge once in a month who (Principal District Judge/District Judge) shall collate the same and forward it to the review committee constituted by the respective High Courts for enabling it to take further steps. xii. The Committee so constituted by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the respective States shall meet at least once in two months and direct such corrective measures to be taken by concerned court as deemed fit and shall also monitor the old cases (preferably which are pending for more than 05 years) constantly. ” 8) Taking into consideration the facts of the present case, submissions made by Mr. Paranjpe, learned senior advocate and the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Yashpal Jain(supra), this petition is disposed of with a direction to the learned Trial Court to comply with the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Yashpal Jain (supra) and make endevour to conclude the proceedings of pending civil suit at the earliest. 9) With the aforesaid observation(s)/direction(s), the present petition is disposed of. Sd/- (Rakesh Mohan Pandey) JUDGE Rekha