Sm t Sushm a v. Ravindra Kum ar and ot hers

Shri Vishal Singh …...Pet it ioner. Ve r su s St at e of Ut t arakhand and ot hers. …….Respondent s : Counsel for t he pet it ioner Counsel for t he St at e : Counsel for respondent Nos. 3 and 4 : learned Mr. Bhupesh Kandpal, counsel. learned Deput y Mr. J.S. Virk, Advocat e General wit h Mr. R.K. Joshi, learned Brief Holder for t he St at e. learned Mr. Raghav counsel holding brief of Mr. Piyush Garg, learned counsel. Singhal, JUD GM EN T : ( p e r M r . G. N a r e n d a r , C.J.) The m at t er was list ed before t his Court yest erday. Aft er hearing, we had direct ed t he learned counsel t o assist t he Court wit h regard t o t he st age of t he part it ion suit said t o have been preferred by respondent No. 4.

2. Learned counsel for t he pet it ioner subm it s t hat on filing of t he suit for part it ion, being Suit No. 9 of 2011- 12, t he Court had issued not ices and t he part ies have put in appearance and have filed t heir respect ive st at em ent s and, t hereaft er, not hing m uch has progressed. The pendency of a suit for part it ion, for nearly 15 years is in t he t eet h of Rule 3 of t he Ut t arakhand Case Flow Managem ent ( For Subordinat e Court s) Rules, 2009, which clearly st ipulat e t hat suit s of such nat ure are required t o be heard and 1 disposed of wit hin t wo years from t he dat e of appearance or deem ed appearance of defendant- respondent- opposit e part y. The relevant rule reads as under: - “ 3. Ca t e g o r i sa t i o n o f su i t s / Ca se s / A p p e a l s / Re v i si o n s a n d o t h e r p r o ce e d i n g s i n t o Tr a ck s- ( 1) The Presiding Officer of t he court shall cat egories t he suit s/ cases and proceedings in his Court int o t rack- t he nat ure of I , Track- I I and Track- I I I based on disput e, t he quant um of evidence t o be recorded and t he t im e likely t o be t aken for t he com plet ion of t rial of t he suit , t he suit s shall be channeled int o different t racks. ( 6) right s ( i) Tr a ck - I : Cases relat ing t o ( 1) m at rim onial m at t ers ( 2) m aint enance ( 3) cust ody of children ( 4) appoint m ent of guardian and wards ( 5) visit at ion adm inist rat ion ( 7) succession cert ificat e ( 8) Sm all Causes Suit s ( 9) Rent Cont rol Appeals ( 10) revisions ( 11) m iscellaneous cases ( 12) elect ion pet it ions ( 13) Mot or Accident Claim s Pet it ions ( 14) prom ot es/ negot iable inst rum ent s ( 15) execut ion cases ( 16) m iscellaneous appeals. m oney let t ers solely suit s ( ii) Tr a ck - I I : ( 1) Original suit s ( ot her t han m ent ioned in t rack- I ) ( 2) Suit s for t radem arks, copyright s, pat ent s and int ellect ual propert y right s ( 3) Land Acquisit ion References. ( iii) Tr a ck - I I I : Such ot her cases not included in Track- I t o I I shall be post ed in Track- I I I . ( 2) The Presiding Officer shall endeavor t o dispose of cases in Track- I wit hin one year and t he cases in t ack- I I & I I I wit hin t wo years from t he dat e of appearance or deem ed appearance of defendant- respondent- opposit e part y. t he period court rem ained vacant or N o t e - For t he orders of proceeding rem ained st ayed under superior court shall not be t aken int o account for calculat ing m axim um period. ( i) Where st at ut e requires t hat suit s/ proceedings 2 have t o be com plet ed wit h in a specified period t hen t he above m ent ioned period for deciding t he suit s shall not apply, and t he Court shall decide t he suit w it h in t he given st at ut ory period. Tim e lim it fixed for various st ages of civil suit s as per Code of Civil Procedure shall be adhered t o ( ii) … ( 3) … ( 4) … ( 5) … ( 6) … ( 7) …”

3. I n t hat view, we direct t he Court of Assist ant Collect or, 1 st Class / SDO, Dehradun t o hear and dispose of Suit No. 9 of 2011- 12 t it led as ‘Sm t . Sushm a vs. Ravindra Kum ar and ot hers’ pending on his file, as expedit iously as possible but at any rat e wit hin an out er lim it of four m ont hs from t he dat e of receipt of a cert ified copy of t his order.

4. The part ies shall appear before t he Court of Assist ant Collect or, 1 st Class / SDO, Dehradun on 30.04.2025 at 03: 00 P.M. and shall not be perm it t ed any adj ournm ent except in t he case of any grave sit uat ion or serious healt h crisis leading t o hospit alizat ion. We would request t he Court of Assist ant Collect or, 1 st Class / SDO, Dehradun t o at t em pt t o hear and dispose of t he suit on day t o day basis.

5. The inst ant writ pet it ion st ands disposed of accordingly. 3 The Regist ry is direct ed t o fort hw it h forward a cert ified

6. copy of t his t o t he concerned Court by way of e- m ail. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ G. N A REN D A R, C.J. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A LOK M A H RA , J. Dt : 25 t hApril, 2025 Rat hour PRAVINDRA SINGH RATHOUR DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=23699ccc2fd40ad81b6fd13323779d9e3aeb10 97d17dbb53d481cabd25946eed, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=1F65499E931DF71CDAF92A40CC6179B8 E010331BA695239171F906FD5C45C4E8, cn=PRAVINDRA SINGH RATHOUR 4