Mandatory 120-day written statement deadline in commercial disputes bars late filing and removes court power to extend time.

In commercial disputes, the amended Code of Civil Procedure scheme makes the 120-day period for filing a written statement mandatory. Once that period expires, the defendant forfeits the right to file the written statement, and the Commercial Court has no power to extend time or take the belated filing on record. Earlier decisions treating the deadline as directory were held inapplicable to this special commercial regime. The refusal to accept a written statement filed after 120 days was therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether the Commercial Court can take on record a written statement filed beyond 120 days from the date of service of summons in a commercial dispute.

Analysis: The amended scheme of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 as applicable to commercial disputes under the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 prescribes a maximum period of 120 days for filing the written statement. The substituted proviso to Order VIII Rule 1, read with the proviso added to Order VIII Rule 10, makes the time limit mandatory and takes away the Court's power to extend time beyond that period. Once 120 days expire, the defendant forfeits the right to file the written statement and the Court cannot allow it to be taken on record. Earlier decisions treating the time limit as directory were held inapplicable to this special commercial regime.

Conclusion: The Commercial Court has no power to accept a written statement filed beyond 120 days, and the refusal to condone delay was upheld.

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