The Written Statement

In one line

The written statement is the defendant's answer to the plaint, and its governing rule is that a denial must be specific, because whatever is not specifically denied is taken to be admitted.

Why the Code insists on specific denials

A trial is expensive, so the Code tries to shrink the dispute before it starts. If the defendant admits that a contract was made and disputes only whether the goods were defective, then the contract needs no evidence at all and the trial is about one thing.

That only works if the defendant is made to say, allegation by allegation, what he accepts and what he disputes. A written statement that says "the defendant denies each and every allegation in the plaint" tells the court nothing and shrinks nothing. So Order VIII Rule 3 forbids exactly that, and Rule 5 supplies the sanction: what is not denied is treated as admitted.

That is the whole architecture of this Order. Rule 3 says deny specifically; Rule 5 says the price of not doing so is admission.

Time to file: Rule 1, and its two different limits

Rule 1 provides that the defendant shall, within thirty days from the date of service of summons, present a written statement of his defence.

The ordinary proviso: where he fails to do so within thirty days, he shall be allowed to file on such other day as the Court may specify, for reasons to be recorded in writing, but not later than ninety days from the date of service of summons.

The commercial-disputes proviso, inserted for commercial disputes of a specified value: where he fails within thirty days, he may be allowed to file on such other day as the Court specifies, for reasons recorded in writing and on payment of such costs as the Court deems fit, but not later than one hundred and twenty days from service; and on the expiry of one hundred and twenty days the defendant forfeits the right to file the written statement, and the Court shall not allow it to be taken on record.

Learn both, and learn the difference, because it is exactly the sort of thing an examiner separates the careful from the careless with.

Rule 1A adds a documents duty. Where the defendant bases his defence on a document, or relies on any document in his possession or power in support of his defence, set-off or counterclaim, he must enter it in a list and produce it in Court when the written statement is presented, delivering the document and a copy with it. Where such a document is not in his possession or power, he must, wherever possible, state in whose possession or power it is.