Amendment of plaint schedule for partition property should be allowed when it enables complete adjudication and delay alone is not decisive.

An amendment to a plaint schedule to include additional partition property should ordinarily be allowed where the property is admitted to be available for partition, the amendment does not change the nature of the suit, and it helps achieve complete adjudication without fresh contentious issues. Mere delay is not, by itself, a sufficient ground to refuse such relief, especially where the delay is explained and rejection would prolong or multiply litigation. On those facts, refusal of the amendment solely for delay was unsustainable, and the application ought to have been allowed.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to amend the plaint schedule to include the Ambattur Estate property as an additional item for partition, and whether the application could be rejected solely on the ground of delay.

Analysis: The proposed property was admitted by the parties to be available for partition, and the first respondent had already treated it as a divisible asset in a separate suit. The amendment did not alter the nature of the partition action, did not introduce any contentious issue requiring fresh adjudication, and would facilitate complete resolution of the dispute. The delay was explained by the pendency of proceedings relating to the Will and by the stage at which the objection to the property became relevant. In such circumstances, a liberal approach to amendment was required, and refusal would only prolong or multiply litigation.

Conclusion: The application for amendment ought to have been allowed, and rejection solely on the ground of delay was unsustainable. The decision is in favour of the appellant.

Ratio Decidendi: An amendment necessary for complete adjudication and avoidance of multiplicity of proceedings should ordinarily be allowed where it does not fundamentally change the case or cause irremediable prejudice, and mere delay is not a sufficient ground for refusal.

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