Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 | O. 17 Adjournments

R. 1 Court may grant time and adjourn hearing.- (1) The court may, if sufficient cause is shown, at any stage of the suit grant time to the parties or to any of them , and may from time to time adjourn the hearing of the suit for reasons to be recorded in writing: provided that no such adjournment hsall be granted more than three times to a party hearing of suite.
(2) Costs of adjournment.- In every such case the court shall fix a day for the further hearing of the suit, and shall make such orders as to costs occasioned by the adjournment of such higher costs as the court deems fit.
Provided that-(a) when the hearing of the suit has commenced, it shall be continued, unless the court finds that, for the exceptional reasons to be recorded by it, the adjournment of the hearing beyond the following day is necessary, (b) no adjournment shall be granted at the request of a party, exceopt where the circumstances are beyond the control of the party, (c) the fact that the pleader of party is engaged in another court, shall not be a ground for adjournment, (d) where the illness of a pleader or his inability to conduct the case for any reason, other than his being engaged in another court, is put forward as a ground for adjournment, the court shall not grant the adjournment unless it is satisfied that the party applying for adjournment could not have engaged another another pleader in time, (e) where a witness is present in court but party or his pleader is not present, or the party or his pleader, though present in court, is not ready to examine or cross-examine the witness, the court may, if it thinks fit dispensing with the examination-in-chief or cross-examination of the witness, as the case may be, by the party or his pleader not present or not ready as aforesaid.

NOTES:

* Adjournment – Refusal – cannot be on mere ground that many adjournments have been granted earlier.
2000 AIR SCW 3967 : 2000 All LJ 3031 : 2000 (7) Scale 354 (State Bank of India v. Km. Chandra Govindji)

* Order canceling grant of probate – application against – 90 dates have been fixed in said matter – out of which 43 dates were fixed for final hearing – however, case has not been proceeded – provisions of CPC provided that no adjournment shall be granted more than three times during hearings of suits – said three adjournments cannot be claimed as of right as it is discreation of the court – judiciary is accountable to public and it is duty of courts to decide cases expeditiously.
AIR 2004 All. 204 (Chandra Prakash Ojha v. District Judge, Bareilly)