High Court · 2025

Presence: - Mr. Neeraj Garg & Mr. Raj endra Arya, Advocat es pet it ioner. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - t he JUD GM EN T Suit for perm anent prohibit ory inj unct ion and m andat ory inj unct ion filed by pet it ioner was dism issed by Trial Court , vide j udgm ent dat ed 31.05.2025. Since civil court s at Dehradun rem ain closed in t he m ont h of June, 2025, on account of sum m er vacat ion and t herefore on 05.06.2025, pet it ioner filed Appeal under Sect ion 96 CPC along wit h an applicat ion under Rule 13 of General Rules ( Civil) , 1957. The applicat ion under Rule 13 was rej ect ed by learned Dist rict Judge, Dehradun by holding t hat t he m at t er is not of such urgency, which m ay warrant hearing during sum m er vacat ion. Thus, feeling aggrieved by t he rej ect ion order dat ed 05.06.2025 pet it ioner has approached t his Court . 1

2. Rule 13 of General Rules ( Civil) , which was invoked, is ext ract ed below: - “ 1 3 . W o r k o n h o l i d a y s. - Except wit h t he consent of part ies, no suit , case or appeal shall be heard on a gazet t e holiday: Provided t hat on gazet t e holiday a court shall not refuse t o do any act or m ake any order urgent ly required or which m ay wit h propriet y be done or m ade out of court . [ Provided furt her t hat during civ il court vacat ions, civil cases m ay be inst it ut ed and urgent fresh m at t ers m ay be heard. For t he purpose of, one officer in t he cadre of civil j udge ( Junior Division) and one in civil j udge ( Senior Division) cadre shall rem ain present on rot at ion basis t hrough- out t he in dist rict Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainit al, and Udham Singh Nagar. I n ot her dist rict s, if an officer in aforesaid cadre is not available, any ot her officer, t o whom charge is given for t his purpose, shall hear urgent m at t ers.] ” vacat ions court s

3. A careful perusal of t he aforesaid provision reveals t hat no suit , case or appeal shall be heard on gazet t ed holiday, except wit h t he consent of part ies. Proviso t heret o, however enables t he court t o hear a m at t er even on a gazet t ed holiday, if an order is urgent ly required in t he said case having regard t o t he fact s and circum st ances of t he case. Thus, m at t ers of grave urgency can be heard even on gazet t e holiday.

4. Learned counsel for pet it ioner cont ends t hat t he order passed by learned Dist rict Judge unsust ainable in view of provision cont ained in Sect ion 15 of Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Court s Act , 1887. Sect ion 15 of t he said Act is ext ract ed below: 2 “ 1 5 . Va ca t i o n s o f Co u r t s.—( 1) Subj ect t o such orders as m ay be m ade by t he St at e Governm ent t he High Court shall prepare a list of days t o be observed in each year as close holiday in t he Civil Court s. ( 2) The list shall be published in t he official Gazet t e. ( 3) A j udicial act done by Civil Court on a day invalid by specified reasons only of it s having been done on t hat day.” list shall not be t he

5. Perusal of Sect ion 15 reveals t hat High Court has t o prepare a list of holidays for Civil Court s, which has t o be published in t he official gazet t e. Sub- sect ion ( 3) of Sect ion 15 furt her provides t hat a j udicial act done by a Civil Court on a gazet t ed holiday shall not be invalid m erely because it was done on a holiday. Thus, Sect ion 15 also do not support t he case of pet it ioner and it only lift s t he em bargo, which is t here on a j udicial act on a gazet t e holiday.

6. Proviso t o Rule 13 of General Rules ( Civil) enables a Civil Court t o ent ert ain a m at t er if it is sat isfied t hat having regard t o t he urgency involved, it deserves t o be heard on a holiday. The said proviso, however, does not creat e any right in favour of a lit igant . Whet her t he m at t er is so urgent , which m ay warrant hearing during vacat ion, has t o be decided by Civil Court . 3

7. I n t he present case, learned Dist rict Judge found t he m at t er t o be not of ext rem e urgency, and refused t o hear t he appeal during vacat ion.

8. This court do not find any reason t o int erfere wit h t he discret ionary order passed by learned Dist rict Judge.

9. The writ pet it ion fails and is dism issed. ________________________ M A N OJ K UM A R TI W A RI , J. Dt : 19.06.2025 Navin NAVEEN CHANDRA DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3be23325146e76a0642bdf4943fb9046f487df 006da82a131bb4e4403d3c0a15, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=18167EEFB5CA8CFFD421A103819DA87 5643AF56D653D095C6ED9A86DAAB21CE5, cn=NAVEEN CHANDRA 4