witnesses first, a nd that no prejudice would be c aused to the defendant, who w o uld retain full oppo r tunity to cross-examine all witnesses including the plaintiff. 6. Ha v ing considered the submissi o ns and examined the impug n ed order, this Co u rt is of the view that the lea r ned Trial Court has exercised its discretion in a c cordance with law and that i t s reasoning does not suffer f r om perversity, illegality or jurisdictional error. Th e principle under Order 18 Rule 3A CPC is not an inflexible mandate but a pro c edural guideline meant to en s ure fairness and pr e vent manipulation. When the Trial Court has applied its m i nd, evaluated the c ircumstances, and ensured that no prejudice is caused to the opposite party, interference in supervisory j u risdiction is unwarranted. D e lay caused earlier by the plaintiff in leading evidence is a matter for the Trial Cou r t to control through appropriate case-management d irections, but it does not entitle the defendant to in s ist on a rigid application of R u le 3A where the statutory sch e me itself provides r o om for judicial discretion. 7. Le a rned counsel for the petitioner relied heavily on the judgmen t of the coordinate B ench in Jasvir Singh and Another v. Jaspal Singh 2015(3) R.C.R (Civil) 1024 , w h erein it was held that Order 18 Rule 3A CPC should be app l ied seriously, that i f a party leads third-party wit n esses first without permission a nd thereafter attem p ts to examine himself, the opp o site party may legitimately op p ose such evidence, a nd that the Trial Court must re c ord reasons if it chooses to dev i ate from the norm a l sequence. That judgment also emphasised that the Trial C o urt cannot permit e vidence to be given at a later s t age unless the order itself sets out reasons for gra n ting such permission. Howeve r , the said judgment also recogn i ses that in Punjab & Haryana courts, the requireme n t that the party must testify fir s t is TRIPTI SAINInot applied rigi d ly in practice, provided the Tri a l Court has applied its mind an d no 2025.12.02 17:19 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document
