Tenant default under Order XV Rule 5 CPC requires fact-specific scrutiny before striking off defence or ordering remand.

Order XV Rule 5 CPC requires courts to examine whether admitted rent was deposited, whether any default was wilful or bona fide, and what counts as the first date of hearing before striking off a tenant's defence. The penal consequence is not to be applied mechanically, and procedural rules must advance justice rather than defeat it. Where the foundational facts for invoking the rule are not properly assessed, and later indulgence does not reconcile with an earlier conditional order, the matter may require fresh consideration. The impugned orders were set aside and the case remanded to the trial court for a fresh decision on compliance and default.

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Issues: Whether the High Court was justified in extending time for compliance under Order XV Rule 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and whether the matter required remand for fresh consideration of the tenant's alleged default and the first date of hearing.

Analysis: Order XV Rule 5 is intended to secure deposit of admitted rent during the pendency of a suit, but the power to strike off the defence is not to be exercised mechanically. The Court reiterated that the consequence is penal in nature and must be applied only after examining the relevant facts, including whether there has been compliance or substantial compliance, whether the default is wilful or bona fide, and what constitutes the first date of hearing. The Court also noted that procedural rules are meant to advance justice and not defeat it. On the record, the foundational aspects for invoking the rule had not been adequately examined by the courts below, while the High Court's later indulgence did not properly reconcile with its earlier conditional order.

Conclusion: The impugned orders were set aside and the matter was remanded to the trial court for a fresh decision on the application under Order XV Rule 5 CPC after determining the first date of hearing and considering compliance, substantial compliance, and the nature of any default.

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