Observing that the draft amendment to the actual allegations in the body of the writ petition must be made by moving an appropriate application by affidavit, the Gujarat High Court recently rejected the draft amendment without an application on a matter accepted by the Registry of the court. .

In doing so, the court emphasized the necessity of adhering to the procedure prescribed under the Code of Civil Procedure (CMK) regarding changes to the text of the written petition, which must be made through an application accompanied by an affidavit. He also asked the Registry to circulate its order to ensure compliance.

The court was hearing a writ petition stating that the draft amendments submitted along with the affidavit were not supported by any application and were filed with the Registry.

A dividing bench Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi in the order in which they are observedWe may note that such an amendment cannot be accepted unless supported by an appropriate application for amendment within the meaning of Order VI Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The Registry should have ignored the draft amendment submitted to add the factual statement to the text of the writ petition.”

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that this was a “common practice” in the Court, where if the matter was at the admission stage, the draft amendment was allowed without application and without filing an affidavit.

Observing that the submission was “unacceptable”, the bench said that amendments which are formal in nature, i.e. changes contained in the preamble or prayer clause of the writ petition, which are “essentially legal in nature”, may be allowed to be made by: draft amendment without being supported by any application filed with the declaration.

“However, changes in the text of the writ petition relating to material allegations must be made in strict accordance with the procedure laid down in Order VI Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure. That is, the amendments will be made by moving an application supported by an affidavit under Order VI Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure.Therefore, we do not find it appropriate to accept the draft declaration amendment dated 28.10.2024, which is not supported by any application made on behalf of the plaintiff.” said the court.

The court rejected the draft amendment; but gave liberty to the petitioner’s counsel to file an appropriate application for modification of the writ petition.

The court then directed the Registrar (Judiciary) to distribute the order within the department, publish it on the website and share it with the President of the Bar Association and also display it on the notice board to ensure compliance of the order.

“This order will be circulated by the Registrar (Judicial) in his department to ensure compliance with the instructions contained herein.” he directed.

Case Title: Hemalkumar Vinodbhai Dodiya & Ors. v/s State of Gujarat

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