In short. Once summons in a commercial suit reaches you in Delhi NCR, you get 30 days to file a written statement. The court can stretch that, with costs, to 120 days at the very most. After that the right's gone for good. Advocate B.K. Singh works from a fixed checklist, and it always runs in the same order: what was served and when, whether the suit can be stopped at the threshold, what the plaintiff's own papers give away, and what the written statement and any counter-claim have to say. Below it is, day by day.
Is this your situation?
- Summons has arrived from a commercial court in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram or Faridabad, and nobody in the office knows what happens next.
- The courier handed the packet to someone at reception. You only saw it a week later, and you can't tell when the clock started.
- They say you owe them money. You say the goods were faulty, late or overbilled, and you've got emails to prove you complained.
- Your contract has an arbitration clause, or it says only another city's courts can hear disputes.
- You suspect the plaintiff skipped Section 12A mediation altogether, or that the claim is simply too old.
- You've got a claim of your own against them and want to know if it can go into the same case.
- Thirty days have already gone by. You're worried you've lost the right to reply.
Working to 30 days, not 120
Advocate B.K. Singh plans every defence for 30 days. Not 120. For commercial suits, Order VIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 gives you 30 days from service of summons to put in a written statement. The court can give more time if it records reasons and you pay costs, but it can never go past 120 days from service. Once those 120 days are up, the right is forfeited and the court can't take your written statement on record at all. The Supreme Court settled this in SCG Contracts (India) Pvt Ltd v. K.S. Chamankar Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (2019).
Think of the 90 days between day 30 and day 120 as an emergency margin. You pay costs to use it. You need the judge's permission and a reason. Defendants who treat it as the real deadline usually end up filing in a rush somewhere around day 100, with papers missing and a counter-claim nobody has thought through. So we aim to finish within 30 days wherever the case allows, and dip into the extra time only for a specific reason we can document.
The order of work doesn't change. We start with what was served and the date. Next comes the kind of proceeding, since a summary suit or an interim application runs on a far shorter clock. Then the threshold: can the suit be stopped before it starts? Then what the plaintiff's own papers give away. Only after all that do we turn to the written statement, the documents and any counter-claim. The full service is on our page about defending a commercial suit. This post is the working checklist behind it.
What arrived, and on which date?
Everything runs from service of summons. So the date of service is the first thing we pin down and write on the file. That's the day the summons reached you, or someone authorised to take it for you. It isn't the day your manager finally noticed the envelope on the reception desk. Courts serve by courier and email too these days, and a commercial court will usually go by the earliest mode of service that's proved. Look at the order sheet and the service report on the court's case status page. That's the date the judge will use.
Then look at what came with it. A commercial plaint should arrive with its documents, the Order XI list of documents, the statement of truth and any interim applications. Annexures the plaint mentions are sometimes missing. When that happens we write to the plaintiff's advocate the same day asking for full copies, and we put the gap on record at the first hearing. What we don't do is assume the clock has paused. Only the court can decide whether incomplete service holds back the 120 days, and a defendant who sits waiting for that ruling can run out of time.
Last, check who was served. The summons may name a company but have gone to a director's house. It may name a proprietor who has died, or a firm that was dissolved years back. Those are points to raise in the written statement, maybe by application. They're never a reason not to turn up. Stay away and you risk an ex parte decree, and getting an ex parte decree set aside is slower and harder than simply appearing on time.
Regular suit, summary suit, or a rush for interim relief?
Up to three clocks can be ticking at once. The shortest one decides your first week. If the plaint's heading says 'Under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908', you're facing a summary suit. You must enter appearance within 10 days of service. After the plaintiff serves summons for judgment, you get another 10 days to apply for leave to defend. Miss either and the plaintiff can walk away with a decree, no trial. A written statement only comes later, and only if leave is granted. That route is covered on our page about leave to defend.
The plaintiff may also have moved for an injunction under Order XXXIX, attachment before judgment under Order XXXVIII Rule 5, or a receiver under Order XL. If so, the court may already have passed an interim order without hearing you. Your reply to that application is due before the next date, which could be a fortnight away. Neither track waits for the other. The written statement deadline keeps running while the interim fight goes on.
And there's Order XIIIA. It lets either side ask for summary judgment once summons is served and before issues are framed, on the footing that the other side has no real prospect of winning. A plaintiff sitting on strong papers might file one early. On day one our team checks the court file for all three, and every deadline goes into one calendar. Shortest at the top.
Can it be stopped at the door?
We ask four questions in the first week. Each one has a time limit or a rule about sequence. The first is whether there's an arbitration clause. If a valid one exists, Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 obliges the court to send the parties to arbitration. The catch is timing. You must apply no later than the date of your first statement on the substance of the dispute, and you need the original arbitration agreement or a certified copy. File a written statement arguing the merits first, and you may have given up arbitration without meaning to. For general reading on arbitration, see arbitrationlawyer.in.
Second, did the plaintiff actually go through Section 12A pre-institution mediation? For suits filed from 20 August 2022, Patil Automation v. Rakheja Engineers (2022) means a plaint can be rejected under Order VII Rule 11 if there's no non-starter or failure report and no genuine case for urgent interim relief. Third, is the claim obviously time-barred on the plaint's own dates? Fourth, is this the right court by value and by territory? And is it truly a commercial dispute of specified value, which means Rs 3 lakh or more?
Any of these can found an application under Order VII Rule 11, or one for return of the plaint. But we're firm on one thing. That application doesn't replace your defence. Unless the court has expressly said otherwise, the written statement goes in on time alongside it, so if the application fails, your defence is already on record. Our guide on when a commercial court can reject a plaint at the first stage goes through the grounds.
Reading the plaintiff's papers before your own
Before you tell us your side, we read theirs. Under Order XI as amended, a commercial plaintiff has to disclose every document in its power, possession, control or custody that relates to the suit, even the ones that hurt it. The plaint also carries a statement of truth under Order VI Rule 15A. It's a sworn account, in other words. Contradictions in it are gold.
We look for specific things. Does their figure match their own ledger, or the invoices they've annexed? Credit for your payments, TDS and credit notes is often simply missing, and the interest rate is quite often one you never agreed to. Did you sign or acknowledge the invoices, or did they just raise them on their own? Is there any mention of your complaints? And did the person who signed the statement of truth actually have the authority to sign it? Our guide on the statement of truth and why a wrong one can hurt explains why that last question matters.
This usually gives us six to ten points. A few become specific denials in the written statement, and some get saved for cross-examining their witness months later. Others show where they're strong. That's just as useful. A defence that denies everything, including facts your own emails admit, loses the court's trust on the points that are really in dispute.
What goes into the written statement
Commercial suits are stricter about pleadings than ordinary civil suits. Order VIII Rule 3A, added for commercial suits, makes you say which allegations you deny, which you can neither admit nor deny and want proved, and which you admit. Every denial needs reasons. If your version of events is different, you have to set it out. A bare 'denied' won't do. If you dispute jurisdiction or valuation, give reasons and say what the right value is. And under Order VIII Rule 5, anything you don't specifically deny may be treated as admitted.
So we build the written statement paragraph by paragraph against the plaint. Every paragraph gets an answer. Before those replies sits a short opening section with the threshold objections and your case in your own words: what was agreed, what went wrong, what you've paid, and why you owe nothing or a smaller sum. We write that story first, plainly. Then we check that every reply fits it. A lawyer defending a commercial suit in Delhi who skips that step tends to file a defence that contradicts itself.
Documents go in with the written statement, not later. Order XI requires you to file a list of every document in your power, possession, control or custody that relates to the suit, with a declaration on oath. If you held something back, you can't rely on it later unless the court gives leave for reasonable cause. Emails, WhatsApp chats and ERP entries are electronic records and need a certificate under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. The written statement itself must be verified by a statement of truth. The formalities are set out on our page on the written statement within 120 days.
Counter-claim, set-off, or a suit of your own?
If you have a claim of your own against the plaintiff, the written statement is the obvious place for it. Order VIII Rule 6A allows a counter-claim, which the court treats as a cross-suit and decides along with the main suit. You pay court fee on it as you would on a plaint, ad valorem under the state schedule. Order VIII Rule 6 is narrower. It allows a set-off of an ascertained sum legally recoverable from the plaintiff, which reduces their claim instead of standing on its own.
Our test is practical. If your claim comes out of the same contract (late-delivery penalties, say, or the cost of replacing bad stock), it usually belongs in a counter-claim. The same witnesses and papers will be in court anyway. If it comes from a different deal, or needs very different evidence, a separate suit can be cleaner. Limitation applies to your claim either way. A counter-claim won't revive a claim that was already time-barred.
People often miss this next bit. If your claim is commercial and of specified value, bringing it as a counter-claim avoids a separate Section 12A mediation, because pre-institution mediation applies to suits. File a separate suit on the same claim and you'd have to mediate first. Unless you genuinely need urgent relief.
Day 30 has already passed. Now what?
File as fast as you can, with an application explaining the delay. Between day 31 and day 120 the court may take the written statement on record, recording its reasons and putting you to costs. Your reasons have to be real and backed by paper. A change of counsel, with dates. A director in hospital, with the discharge summary. Records stuck with a former employee or a group company. Saying the defendant was 'collecting documents' is weak, and the costs usually show it.
After day 120, nothing can be done about the written statement itself. SCG Contracts made it clear that a court has no power to extend time beyond 120 days in a commercial suit. You aren't wholly shut out. You can still cross-examine their witnesses and argue they haven't proved their case. But you can't put forward your own version of the facts. In a money claim, that's a very weak place to be.
When day 120 is close, our priorities shift. We'd rather file a complete but tight written statement with the main documents in time than a polished one a day late. How the days are counted is explained in our guide on the 120-day written statement deadline.
The 120-day defence calendar
| When | What you have to do | Cost (statutory or out of pocket) | What we look at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Summons served. Write down the date and how it came | Nil | Service report on the court record, and what was in the packet |
| Days 1 to 3 | Spot any summary suit, interim application or summary judgment application. Engage counsel and file the vakalatnama | Vakalatnama with the Delhi welfare stamp | Which deadline in the file is shortest |
| Within 10 days (summary suit only) | Enter appearance. Then apply for leave to defend within 10 days of the summons for judgment | Nothing beyond process | Is leave likely, and on what terms? |
| Days 1 to 15 | Decide on a Section 8 arbitration application, Order VII Rule 11, or return of plaint | Nil | Original arbitration agreement or a certified copy in hand |
| Days 1 to 30 | Written statement with Order VIII Rule 3A replies, Order XI documents and statement of truth, plus any counter-claim | Ad valorem court fee on a counter-claim under the state schedule (check the current figure) | Every allegation answered, no document left out |
| Days 31 to 120 | File with a condonation application giving genuine reasons | Whatever costs the court orders | Reasons backed by paper; file on the earliest day you can |
| After day 120 | The right to file a written statement is forfeited | Not applicable | Only cross-examination and arguments on their proof remain |
| After pleadings | Inspection, admission or denial of documents, then the Order XVA case management hearing | Nil | Admission and denial statement filed in the time fixed |
The checklist, day by day
This is how our team works through a fresh commercial suit defence. Every step is there for a reason. Skip one and it tends to come back later as a lost objection, or a document the court won't look at.
Day 0 to 1: lock the date, open the file
Take the date and mode of service from the court record. Download the order sheet, note the next date, and list what you received and what's missing.
Day 1 to 3: find the shortest clock
Check whether it's a summary suit, whether an interim order has already been passed against you, and whether an Order XIIIA application is pending. Enter appearance. File the vakalatnama.
Day 3 to 7: threshold objections
Read the contract for an arbitration clause and a jurisdiction clause. Test Section 12A compliance, limitation, value and territory. Pick the applications, and file any Section 8 application before a word is said on the merits.
Day 5 to 12: their plaint against your books
Reconcile their figure with your ledger and bank records. Note every complaint, rejection, penalty and payment the plaint leaves out.
Day 7 to 15: gather and certify documents
Collect contracts, POs, delivery records, quality reports, emails and chats. Prepare Section 63 BSA certificates for electronic records, with device and system details.
Day 12 to 22: draft the defence and any counter-claim
Write your own account first. Then answer each paragraph under Order VIII Rule 3A. Choose counter-claim or set-off and work out the court fee.
Day 22 to 28: check and sign
The authorised signatory reads the whole thing, signs the statement of truth and the Order XI declaration, and the board resolution or authority is confirmed.
Day 28 to 30: file and serve
File the written statement, documents and any counter-claim. Serve copies on the plaintiff's advocate. Diary the replication, inspection and case management dates.
If the summons has only just landed and you'd like a gentler walk-through for first-time defendants, try our guide on defending a commercial suit when you receive summons.
What we'll ask you for in week one
From the court
- The summons, with the envelope or email that shows when it arrived
- The plaint, documents and list of documents exactly as served
- Any interim application, and any order already passed
- Their Section 12A report, if they annexed one
The contract and the deal
- The contract, POs, work orders and any amendments
- Rate lists, quotations and the emails accepting them
- Delivery challans, GRNs, inspection and rejection reports
- Completion certificates, sign-offs or acceptance test reports
Money and accounts
- The plaintiff's ledger account in your books
- Bank statements showing every rupee you paid them
- TDS certificates, and GST returns showing their invoices
- Debit notes, credit notes and how penalties were worked out
Correspondence and authority
- Every email and WhatsApp chat with them, exported with dates
- Any legal notice you got, and what you replied
- The board resolution or authority for whoever will sign
- Details of the computers and phones holding the electronic records, for the Section 63 BSA certificate
Mistakes we see in defences
- Treating day 120 as the deadline. Your deadline is day 30. Days 31 to 120 are a discretionary extension that costs money and needs reasons. A court can say no.
- Arguing the merits before the Section 8 application. A written statement that fights the dispute may count as your first statement on the substance. The right to insist on arbitration can go with it.
- Leaning on an Order VII Rule 11 application instead of a defence. If it's dismissed after day 120, there's no written statement on record. None.
- Bare denials. Writing 'wrong and denied' or 'denied for want of knowledge' against every paragraph doesn't meet Order VIII Rule 3A. Facts you don't specifically deny may be taken as admitted.
- Keeping documents back. If you had it and didn't file it with the written statement, you may not be allowed to use it later. File everything relevant, the awkward papers too.
- Denying what your own emails admit. If you received the goods and used them, claiming they never came wrecks your credibility on the real fight about quality or price.
- Saving the counter-claim for later. A claim you could have raised here and didn't may run into limitation, a separate mediation and a second court fee.
Which court hears it, and what comes after the written statement?
In Delhi, a commercial suit up to Rs 2 crore goes to the District Judge (Commercial Court) at the district court complex, whether that's Saket, Tis Hazari, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rohini or Dwarka. Above Rs 2 crore, it's the Commercial Division of the Delhi High Court. In July 2026 the Delhi High Court Full Court recommended lifting the district limit to Rs 10 crore. That needs a legislative amendment, so check the current limit. In Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad the suit sits before whichever court is designated as the district's Commercial Court, and appeals go to the Allahabad High Court or the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Once your written statement is in, the plaintiff may file a replication. Both sides then finish inspection of documents and file statements admitting or denying each other's papers under Order XI. Next is the case management hearing under Order XVA. The court frames issues there and sets a timetable for evidence and arguments. Our guide on the case management hearing under Order XV-A covers that stage.
How well the written statement is done shapes that hearing. A sharp defence with papers behind it gives narrow issues and a short trial. A woolly one gives wide issues. It also hands the plaintiff an opening to push for summary judgment.
When we'd suggest settling instead
Usually when you owe most of the money and your real quarrel is over a smaller slice of it. Fighting the whole suit may then cost more, in time and fees, than the disputed amount. And a court that sees an admitted debt may make you pay or deposit that part early in any case. Paying the admitted sum on a schedule, and leaving the disputed bit to be argued or negotiated, often makes better business sense.
Settling isn't surrender. File the written statement on time anyway. Talks fail. A defendant who stopped work on the defence while negotiating may find it's past day 120 when the talks collapse. Commercial courts can refer the parties to mediation mid-suit, and a compromise can be recorded under Order XXIII Rule 3. For the terms worth holding out for, see our guide on settling a commercial suit without losing your rights.
Invented example: a Noida electronics assembler sued by a Faridabad sheet-metal supplier
This is an invented case, to show the method. A sheet-metal supplier in Faridabad sues an electronics assembler in Noida for Rs 1.12 crore for enclosures supplied over a year, with 24 percent interest on top. It files in the court designated as Commercial Court in Faridabad. The summons reaches the Noida factory by courier on 3 March. The purchase manager signs for it and puts it in a drawer. Nine days go by.
Counsel gets the file on 12 March. From the court record, service is fixed at 3 March, which makes 2 April day 30. There's no arbitration clause in the supply agreement. There is a clause giving Delhi courts sole jurisdiction, though, and the plaint never explains why it chose Faridabad. A Section 12A non-starter report is annexed. The claimed figure ignores Rs 6.4 lakh of TDS and two debit notes for rejected lots adding up to Rs 9.8 lakh. Both show up in emails the plaintiff itself annexed. And the 24 percent rate? It appears nowhere except on the plaintiff's own invoices.
The written statement goes in on 31 March. It raises the jurisdiction clause with reasons and names the right forum. It answers every paragraph. It admits delivery but disputes the rejected lots with inspection reports, credits the TDS, and admits roughly Rs 92 lakh as payable subject to set-off. A counter-claim of Rs 7.5 lakh is added for line stoppages caused by late deliveries, court fee paid. The assembler's board then authorises settlement talks on the admitted figure. The defence stays on record throughout. To repeat, this is invented to show the method. It's no promise of any result.
Buyers, guarantors, startups and MSMEs
A buyer sued for the price nearly always has a quality, quantity or delay defence, so the inspection records and rejection emails carry the case. A guarantor sued alongside the company should read the guarantee itself. It should also check whether the main debt was varied without its consent. File a separate written statement too, because the company's defence may not cover the guarantor's points.
Startups sued by vendors are often thin on paper. The work happened on chat groups and shared drives. Spend the first week exporting those records properly, with the Section 63 certificate in mind. Big companies have the papers but slow sign-offs, so get the authorised signatory and board resolution sorted in the first ten days, not the last. If you're a micro or small enterprise yourself, you may have a delayed-payment claim of your own against the plaintiff under the MSMED Act. Check that before anyone drafts the counter-claim. Our page on commercial suit defence covers these situations.
What to do this week
Find the summons. Write down the exact date it reached your office, and get the case number. See whether the plaint calls itself a summary suit, and whether any interim order has already been passed. Pull out your contract and look for an arbitration clause and a jurisdiction clause before anyone writes a word about the merits.
Then ask accounts for the plaintiff's ledger in your books and a bank statement showing every payment. Collect the emails where you complained, rejected goods or raised penalties. And while the suit's pending, don't write to the plaintiff directly about the dispute.
Want these checks done on your own summons and plaint in the first week? Share the papers with Advocate B.K. Singh's team through our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
When does the 30-day period for a written statement start?
From the date summons is served on you, which the court reads from its own service record. Not the day someone in your office opened the packet. Check the order sheet and service report to be sure of the date.
Can a commercial court accept a written statement after 120 days?
No. In SCG Contracts v. K.S. Chamankar Infrastructure (2019) the Supreme Court held that in commercial suits the right is forfeited 120 days after service. The court can't take a later written statement on record.
Does a pending Order VII Rule 11 application stop the 120 days?
Don't assume so. Unless the court has expressly ordered otherwise, file your written statement on time alongside the application. Then your defence is on record if the application is dismissed.
What happens if I don't appear after getting summons?
The court can go ahead ex parte and pass a decree. You'd then have to apply under Order IX Rule 13 to set it aside, showing summons wasn't duly served or that you had sufficient cause. That's slow, and the outcome's uncertain.
Can I raise my own claim against the plaintiff in the same suit?
Yes. Either by a counter-claim under Order VIII Rule 6A, paying court fee on its value, or by a set-off of an ascertained sum under Order VIII Rule 6. Limitation applies to your claim as if it were a separate suit.
Do I need to file documents with the written statement?
Yes. Order XI, as amended for commercial suits, requires you to file every relevant document in your power or custody with a list and a declaration on oath. Something held back may not be allowed later without the court's leave.
Can I insist on arbitration after a commercial suit is filed?
Yes, if there's a valid arbitration clause and you apply under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act no later than your first statement on the substance of the dispute. Bring the original agreement or a certified copy.
Who should sign the written statement for a company?
A director or officer authorised by a board resolution or power of attorney, who knows the facts well enough to sign the statement of truth. The authority must exist on the day of signing and be filed with the written statement.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, district and commercial courts in Delhi NCR, and tribunals.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.