In short. Once both sides have filed their pleadings and dealt with each other's documents, the commercial court calls a case management hearing. At it, the judge frames issues and lays down a timetable for evidence and arguments. That's Order XV-A of the CPC, and it covers commercial suits of Rs 3 lakh and above. The first such hearing is due within four weeks of the affidavits admitting or denying documents. Arguments are supposed to finish within six months of it. Bring draft issues, a witness list and dates you can live with. You'll be held to them.
Is this your situation?
- The last order sheet in your suit says "list for case management hearing" or "framing of issues", and you'd like to know what that actually involves.
- Pleadings are finished. Both sides have filed their affidavits admitting or denying each other's documents.
- Your lawyer has asked you for a list of witnesses. You've no idea who should go into the box.
- The other side asks for time on every single date, and you want the judge to fix dates they can't wriggle out of.
- You're the defendant, and you're worried the court will push the trial along before you're ready.
- You missed a deadline set at an earlier case management hearing and now you're nervous about what happens.
- You want an honest idea of how long the trial stage of your suit is likely to take.
What is a case management hearing, in plain terms?
It's the hearing where the commercial court takes charge of the trial. The judge looks at the pleadings and at which documents each side has admitted or denied. He or she works out what's really in dispute and frames the issues. Then come the dates: when affidavits of evidence are due, when witnesses will be cross-examined, when written arguments go in and when oral arguments will be heard. The power comes from Order XV-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC). The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 added it for commercial disputes of a specified value, which is now Rs 3 lakh and above.
Before 2015 a civil suit just drifted. Issues were framed whenever the court found a moment, evidence came in bits, and no lawyer could tell a client when the trial would end. Order XV-A was written to stop that. It borrows from English case management practice and gives the judge real teeth. Firm dates. Costs for delay. And the power to shut out a party that keeps ignoring orders.
Why should you care? Because this hearing fixes the shape of your trial. The issues framed that day decide what evidence counts, who has to prove what, and which witnesses get heard. The dates fixed that day become the measuring stick for every adjournment request later. Our commercial court services page shows where this hearing fits in the whole suit, from mediation through to execution.
Where does it come in the commercial suit timeline?
Late. Nothing happens at this hearing until the paper stage is over. A typical Delhi NCR suit gets there roughly like this. First the plaintiff tries pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, unless it can show urgent relief is needed and mediation can be skipped. The plaint goes in with every document and a statement of truth, and summons are issued. The defendant has 30 days to answer, stretchable to a hard ceiling of 120 days from service and not a day more (see our guide on the 120-day written statement deadline). A replication follows if the plaintiff wants to answer new facts.
Then the documents. Order XI, as amended for commercial suits, gives each side 30 days from the written statement to inspect what the other has filed. Within 15 days of inspection being finished, both file affidavits going through each other's documents one by one, admitting or denying each, and giving a reason for every denial. That's what sets off Order XV-A Rule 1. From the day the last of those affidavits is filed, the court has four weeks to hold the first case management hearing.
Don't confuse it with the first hearing of the suit. That earlier date deals with summons, interim applications and whether mediation was done, and we've written about it separately in what happens at the first hearing of a commercial suit. In a contested suit, we usually see the case management hearing come round six to twelve months after filing. How quickly service went, and how long the defendant sat on its defence, make most of the difference.
What Order 15A CPC says, rule by rule
Order XV-A Rule 1: when the first hearing is held
The court holds the first case management hearing no later than four weeks from the date on which all parties have filed their affidavits admitting or denying documents. In practice, the date often gets fixed on the same day the last affidavit is taken on record.
Order XV-A Rule 2: what the court orders
If there are issues of fact or law that need trial, the court may frame issues under Order XIV after going through the pleadings and documents. If needed, it can first examine a party under Order X Rule 2. It then lists the witnesses each side will examine. It fixes the date for filing affidavits of evidence, the dates for recording evidence, and the dates for written and oral arguments, and it can set time limits on how long the advocates speak.
Order XV-A Rules 3 and 4: the six-month rule and day-to-day evidence
The court has to fix dates so that arguments close no later than six months from the first case management hearing. And as far as possible, evidence is to be recorded day to day until every witness has been cross-examined.
Order XV-A Rules 5 and 6: further hearings and the court's powers
The court can hold more case management hearings during the trial to keep everyone to the timetable. Its powers are wide. Before framing issues, it can decide a pending summary judgment application under Order XIII-A. It can direct compilations of documents, extend or cut time, consolidate suits, and strike out irrelevant witnesses or parts of affidavits of evidence. It can also order a separate trial of an issue, decide the order in which issues are taken, drop an issue, give judgment after a preliminary issue, appoint a commission to record evidence, and tell a party to file and exchange a costs budget. Its orders can carry conditions, including a deposit of money in court, and can say what follows if they aren't obeyed. If settlement looks possible, it can ask the parties themselves to come.
Order XV-A Rules 7 and 8: adjournments and non-compliance
This hearing isn't to be adjourned just because a party's advocate is absent. An adjournment asked for in advance, by application, may be allowed on costs, or on terms if the absence is justified. If a party ignores an order, the court can condone it on costs. It can also foreclose that party's right to file affidavits, cross-examine, file written submissions or argue. Where the default is wilful and repeated and costs won't fix it, the court can dismiss the plaint or allow the suit.
What does the judge actually do at the first case management hearing?
Mostly, it's about issues. The judge goes through the plaint, the written statement, the replication and both sets of admission and denial affidavits, looking for the facts that are genuinely contested. Take a common pattern. The defendant admits the purchase orders and admits the invoices, but says the goods were bad. Why frame an issue on supply, then? Nobody disputes it. The real questions are whether the goods were defective and whether the buyer rejected them in time. Judges who cut issues down like this get shorter trials.
Both sides normally put in draft issues, before the date or on it. Practice varies a lot. One judge will hear counsel for ten minutes and dictate issues into the order sheet on the spot. Another will reserve them for the next date. Under Order X Rule 2 the judge can also question a party, or its authorised representative, to clarify what's admitted. Clients don't expect that. They think they'll just sit at the back.
Then the calendar. How many witnesses will you call, and who? Once the court knows, it gives a single date for filing evidence affidavits of all your witnesses at once, which is what Order XVIII Rule 4(1A) now requires in commercial suits. Cross-examination is fixed next, often on consecutive days. Written and oral arguments get their own dates. Some judges bring up settlement here and send the parties off to the court's mediation centre for a few weeks, leaving the timetable untouched.
Why the issues framed at this hearing matter so much
Think of an issue as the precise question the judgment will answer. Each one comes with an onus, meaning the side that must prove it. An issue reading 'Whether the plaintiff supplied goods worth Rs 42 lakh to the defendant? OPP' puts the burden on the plaintiff (OPP is short for onus on the plaintiff). One reading 'Whether the goods supplied were defective? OPD' makes the defendant prove the defect. Close cases often turn on onus. Can't prove your issue? You lose on it.
Evidence that doesn't relate to a framed issue can be struck out under Order XV-A Rule 6. That cuts both ways. If your real point isn't framed as an issue, your witness may not be allowed to talk about it. And if a loose, vague issue gets framed, the other side may use it to open up a whole line of evidence you hadn't prepared for.
Advocate B.K. Singh's way of preparing is a two-column sheet. On the left, each proposed issue with its onus. On the right, the document or witness that will prove it. An empty right-hand box tells you something before the judge does. Maybe the issue is unnecessary. Or maybe there's a gap in your proof, and now is when you fill it, while a witness can still be added to the list. Order XIV Rule 5 does allow issues to be amended or added later. Once evidence is running, though, courts are much less willing.
How to get ready for a case management hearing
Start about a month before the date. Not the night before.
Make sure the paperwork is complete
Check the order sheet and the court record. Are the written statement, replication, inspection and both sets of admission and denial affidavits all on file? If something's missing, the date may be wasted, or the court may treat your side as the one in default.
Draft the issues you want, with the onus
Write them in neutral language and mark the onus against each. Cut anything that's already admitted. Keep issues on limitation, jurisdiction and Section 12A compliance separate, since the court may want to decide those first.
Settle who your witnesses are
Decide who'll depose for you. Usually that's whoever negotiated the contract, the accountant who kept the ledger, the dispatch or site in-charge, and perhaps an outsider like the transporter. Check each one is willing and free. If a witness has left the company, start tracing them now.
Work out dates you can actually keep
Find out when your witnesses can come and how long their affidavits will take to prepare. Ask your lawyer to propose dates you'll meet. The court will hold you to them, and Rule 8 punishes defaults.
Look at pending applications
If you've a strong case for summary judgment under Order XIII-A, it has to be filed before issues are framed. After that the window shuts. Any amendment, impleadment or discovery application should also be moved before or at this hearing.
Prepare a rough cost estimate
Commercial courts can ask for a costs budget. Keep a rough figure ready for court fee already paid, mediation costs, commission fees, witness travel and the like. It'll also help you think straight about settlement.
Brief whoever is attending
If the court wants a party present, send someone who knows the dispute and has authority to talk settlement. They should carry a board resolution or authority letter.
Once the hearing is over, get a copy of the order sheet from your lawyer and put every date in your calendar that same day. Most of the defaults we see are missed dates. Not bad law.
Time limits and costs around the case management hearing
| Stage | Provision | Time limit in the law | Costs other than the lawyer's fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspection of documents | Order XI Rule 3 | Within 30 days of the written statement | Photocopying and inspection charges. Small |
| Affidavit admitting or denying documents | Order XI Rule 4 | Within 15 days of inspection being completed | Stamp paper and attestation. Costs can be imposed for unreasonable denials |
| First case management hearing | Order XV-A Rule 1 | Within 4 weeks of the last admission and denial affidavit | Nothing as such |
| Affidavits of evidence of all witnesses | Order XVIII Rule 4(1A) and the timetable | On the date fixed at the first Order XV-A hearing | Drafting, stamp paper, notarisation |
| Cross-examination of witnesses | Order XV-A Rule 4 | Day to day, as far as possible | Commissioner's fee if a local commissioner records evidence, and witness travel |
| Written arguments | Order XVIII Rule 2 as amended | At least four weeks before oral arguments start | Printing and compiling |
| Close of arguments | Order XV-A Rule 3 | Within 6 months of the first case management hearing | None |
| Costs for not complying | Order XV-A Rule 8 | Whenever a default happens | Whatever the court fixes. Check the order sheet |
The six-month rule: does the trial really end that quickly?
Rule 3 of Order XV-A asks the court to set its dates so that arguments wrap up within six months of the first case management hearing. Read it carefully. It's a direction about the court's own calendar, not a guarantee you can hold anyone to, and a judgment delivered later isn't invalid because of it. Delhi's commercial courts carry long boards. Witnesses get sick. Counsel get held up in another courtroom. Applications crop up.
It does change behaviour, though. A judge who takes the rule seriously lists evidence on back-to-back days, won't adjourn cross-examination because a witness is 'out of station', and writes down reasons whenever time is given. The Delhi High Court's Commercial Division often appoints a local commissioner to record evidence. The judge's time is saved, cross-examination runs on fixed days, and the parties split the commissioner's fee. Down in the district commercial courts, Saket or Karkardooma for instance, the judge generally records evidence personally.
Our rough experience? With two or three witnesses each side, a contested suit often gets through evidence and arguments eight to fifteen months after that first hearing. Faster if both sides cooperate. Of everything you'll see in the order sheet, the timetable set at this hearing tells you most about when your case will finish, so it's worth arguing for dates that are tight but realistic. After arguments, a new clock starts, the 90-day limit for judgment. We explain it in how long judgment takes after final arguments.
Can the hearing be adjourned if your lawyer can't make it?
Not easily. Order XV-A Rule 7 says the court shall not adjourn a case management hearing only because a party's advocate is absent. If you know beforehand that your counsel can't come, an adjournment application has to be moved before the date. The court may allow it on whatever costs it thinks fit. If the absence was genuinely justified, a sudden medical emergency say, it may adjourn on terms.
The practical lesson is simple. Don't count on a proxy counsel asking for a 'short date' and walking out. Many commercial courts in Delhi will go ahead without counsel and frame issues from the proposed issues already on file. Or they'll impose costs that must be paid before the next date. Changed lawyers recently? File the new vakalatnama well before the hearing, so someone who actually knows the file is standing there.
What happens if you don't stick to the timetable?
- Costs to condone the default. Costs are the usual first response under Order XV-A Rule 8(a). Courts often make payment a condition for taking a late affidavit on record, and where a whole date has been wasted, the amount can sting.
- You lose the right to file evidence. If you don't file affidavits of evidence by the date fixed, the court can close your right to lead evidence. The suit then runs on the other side's evidence alone. In a recovery case, that's often the end of it.
- You lose the right to cross-examine. If your counsel keeps failing to cross-examine on the fixed dates, the court can close cross-examination. Testimony nobody challenged is very hard to argue against later.
- You lose the right to argue. Written submissions filed late can be refused. Oral arguments can be cut short or closed altogether.
- Dismissal, or a decree against you. Where non-compliance is wilful and repeated and costs haven't worked, the court can dismiss the plaint (if the plaintiff is in default) or allow the suit (if it's the defendant). It's used sparingly. But it's used.
- Conditions that bite. Under Rule 6(2) the court can make an order conditional, for example on depositing a sum in court, and spell out what happens if you don't. Read every such condition twice.
Using the hearing to cut the case down
Dates aren't the only thing on the table. This is your best opportunity to make the case smaller. Could a single point, limitation say, or missing Section 12A mediation, dispose of the entire suit? Ask for it to be tried first, as a preliminary issue. Did the defendant admit part of the claim, whether in the written statement or in correspondence before suit? Ask for judgment on that part straight away. And if an Order XIII-A summary judgment application is pending, Rule 6 allows the court to decide it before issues are framed. Our guide on winning a commercial suit without a full trial sets out these routes.
The court can also consolidate two suits between the same parties on the same contract. It can drop an issue that's become irrelevant, or order a separate trial on quantum so liability gets decided first. Each of these can save months. None of them happens unless somebody asks. Ask with a short written note saying why.
Where the case management hearing happens in Delhi NCR
Wherever your suit is pending. In Delhi, suits up to Rs 2 crore go to the District Judge (Commercial Court) at Tis Hazari, Saket, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka or Patiala House, depending on territory. Check the current pecuniary limit, because there's been a proposal to raise it. Bigger suits go to the Commercial Division of the Delhi High Court. There, pleadings and admission and denial usually get done before a Joint Registrar, and then the matter goes to the judge for case management and framing of issues.
Over in Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad's designated Commercial Court sits in the district court there, and Gautam Buddh Nagar's is at the Surajpur complex in Greater Noida. Gurugram and Faridabad, in Haryana, have commercial courts at District Judge level. Since Order XV-A is central law, the rule doesn't change across the border. Habits do. One court frames issues in the same sitting. Another reserves them. Some lay down the entire evidence schedule in a single order, and some only fix the next step. If you're unsure where your suit should be, our page on which commercial court will hear your case works through value and territory.
Papers to take to the case management hearing
From the court file
- The plaint, written statement, replication and any counter-claim
- Both sides' affidavits admitting and denying documents
- Order sheets from every earlier date
- Pending applications, and the replies to them
Made for this hearing
- Your proposed issues, with the onus marked
- Your witness list, with each person's designation and when they're free
- A note on any preliminary issue you want tried first (limitation, jurisdiction, Section 12A)
- A rough costs estimate in case the court wants a budget
From your own office
- An authority letter or board resolution for whoever is attending
- Phone numbers and addresses of ex-employees who may have to depose
- Originals the court might want to see, like signed purchase orders or the ledger
Plaintiffs and defendants want different things from this hearing
If you're the plaintiff in a recovery suit, you usually want the narrowest issues and the tightest dates. Every month of delay is another month without your money. Interest under Section 34 CPC makes up for some of it, not all. Push for issues that cover only what's really disputed, and for back-to-back dates for cross-examination. If the written statement admits the goods arrived and doesn't specifically deny the invoices, put that in writing before the hearing.
Defendants tend to want long dates. That can backfire badly. Commercial courts have little time for a defendant that seems to be playing for time, and the dates you ask for now are the dates you'll be judged against. Spend the hearing on something more useful, making sure your defence is properly reflected in the issues. That matters most if you're counter-claiming for damages, defective supply or delay. Need a technical witness, or a site inspection? Get it written into the timetable today instead of asking for adjournments later. The wider strategy is on our page on defending a commercial suit.
How it plays out for small suppliers, MSMEs, startups and large companies
For a proprietor or a small MSME supplier, the headache is witnesses. Often the owner personally did the negotiating, the dispatch and the accounts. So the owner is the only witness. That's fine. But then the owner has to be free on every cross-examination date, and those may run over two or three days in a row. Block the dates in your own diary before your lawyer agrees to them in court.
Startups and service firms usually face the reverse. Whoever negotiated the deal or ran the project has left. Track them down before the hearing and ask, plainly, if they'll give evidence. If they won't, ask yourself whether the paper trail plus a records custodian can carry your issues on its own. You'll need a Section 63 certificate under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 for emails and WhatsApp messages. Our guide on proving emails and WhatsApp chats in a commercial court covers it.
Large companies usually have the people. What they have is internal delay. Approvals for witnesses, legal department sign-off on affidavits, and which cost centre pays the commissioner's fee. Get those moving the week the dates are fixed. A court that gave four weeks for affidavits won't be impressed that the regional head was travelling.
An invented example: a packaging unit and a distributor
This one is invented, purely to show how a hearing like this can run. A corrugated box maker in Sector 63, Noida files suit against a Ghaziabad food distributor for Rs 36 lakh unpaid across 58 invoices. It's before the court designated as Commercial Court for Gautam Buddh Nagar. On day 110 the distributor's written statement arrives. Purchase orders admitted. But four consignments of boxes were undersized, it says, and it has paid more than the plaintiff gives it credit for.
When documents are admitted or denied, the distributor accepts every one of the 58 invoices and its own ledger extract. What it denies is the plaintiff's statement of account. Three weeks on, the first Order XV-A hearing comes up. The box maker's lawyer has filed three draft issues. Is Rs 36 lakh due (plaintiff to prove)? Were the four consignments defective and rejected in time (defendant to prove)? And interest. The distributor's side has filed eleven. Several are about whether a contract was ever formed, a point the written statement had already conceded.
Four issues get framed. The order records that supply and invoices aren't disputed, gives both sides four weeks for evidence affidavits, fixes two consecutive cross-examination dates the next month and puts arguments a month later. The distributor is two weeks late with its affidavits and pays costs. Its quality witness misses the first cross-examination date. Then misses the second, and the court closes that witness's evidence. Final arguments are reached about seven months after the hearing. That's an illustration, not a prediction. Your own court and facts will decide your pace.
Mistakes we see at case management hearings
- Turning up without proposed issues. If only one side files a draft, the court tends to start from it. Make sure it's yours.
- Agreeing to dates nobody checked. Counsel agrees to four weeks for affidavits. Then it turns out the client's accountant is abroad for six. Check who's available before the hearing.
- Putting every employee on the witness list. A long list invites the court to strike names, and makes you look unprepared. Name the people who can actually prove an issue.
- Missing the summary judgment window. An Order XIII-A application can't be filed after issues are framed. If your documents are strong, make the call before the hearing.
- Treating admission and denial as a formality. Flatly denying documents the other side can easily prove invites costs, and can be held against you. It also widens the issues and stretches out your own trial.
- Not reading the order sheet. Advocate B.K. Singh asks clients to read the case management order themselves, line by line. The conditions and consequences in it bind the party, not just the lawyer. When a party loses its evidence over a default, it usually started with nobody spotting a deadline in that order.
If your case management hearing is coming up, do this week
Get the order sheets out. Are both sides' admission and denial affidavits on record? Then write one page listing what's admitted and what's denied. Draft the issues with the onus against each, or ask your lawyer for a draft. Call each person you'd want as a witness and note the days they're unavailable. If you've got a strong legal point, a clear admission, or a defence that's all air, now's the moment to decide whether to ask for it to be dealt with before trial. The bigger picture, filing to decree, is on our commercial court services page, with timings in the guide on how long a commercial suit takes.
If you'd like your pleadings, admission and denial affidavits and draft issues looked over before the hearing, or want to hear about changes to commercial court procedure, get in touch with Advocate B.K. Singh's team through the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Is a case management hearing compulsory in every commercial suit?
Yes, if it's a commercial dispute of specified value and there are issues that need trial. Order XV-A applies to commercial suits in commercial courts and in the Commercial Divisions of High Courts. But if the case ends earlier, on summary judgment, an admission or a preliminary point, you may never need a full timetable.
Who goes to a case management hearing?
Usually just the advocates. The court can ask the parties to come in person, especially if it sees a chance of settlement or wants to examine a party under Order X Rule 2. A company should send an authorised officer who knows the dispute well.
Can issues be changed after the hearing?
Yes. Under Order XIV Rule 5 the court can amend or add issues any time before judgment. Courts get cautious once evidence has started, though. It's far better to get the issues right at this stage.
Can I file a new document after the case management hearing?
Commercial suits need all documents filed with the pleadings. A later document is allowed only if you show reasonable cause for not disclosing it earlier, and courts are strict about that. Tell your lawyer about any missing document before the hearing.
What's a costs budget in a commercial suit?
It's an estimate of what a party expects to spend on the case. The court can ask each side to file and exchange one under Order XV-A Rule 6. It helps the court keep costs in check, and later decide actual costs under Section 35 CPC as amended for commercial disputes.
Does it apply to summary suits under Order XXXVII?
Only if the defendant gets leave to defend and the suit goes to trial. Until then, a summary suit follows its own track, with the summons for judgment and the leave to defend stage.
Can the court send us to mediation at the case management hearing?
Yes. Courts often ask if the parties want to try settling, and may refer them to the court-annexed mediation centre for a short period. The timetable usually keeps running alongside. Don't treat a referral as a pause.
What if the defendant doesn't appear at the case management hearing?
The court can carry on, frame issues on the record and fix dates. If the defendant keeps staying away and ignoring orders, its right to lead evidence or argue can be closed. In serious cases the suit may be allowed.
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.