Observing that draft amendments in respect of factual assertions contained in the body of a writ petition must be filed by filing an appropriate application accompanied by an affidavit, the Gujarat High Court recently dismissed the draft amendments without an application be filed in a case which had been accepted by the Registry of the Court. .

In doing so, the court emphasized the need to follow the procedure prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) with regard to amendments to the body of the writ petition, which must be made by way of an application accompanied by ‘an affidavit. He further requested the Registry to disseminate his order to ensure compliance.

The court was hearing a writ petition in which it noted that the draft amendments filed with the affidavit were not supported by any application and had been placed on the register.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi in its observed order “We can see that such modification cannot be allowed unless it is supported by an application for appropriate modification within the meaning of Order VI, Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The Registry should not have accepted the proposed amendment filed to add a factual statement in the body of the written request..”

Counsel for the petitioner submitted that it is a “prevailing practice” in the Court that draft amendments are allowed without application or affidavit if the matter is at the admission stage.

Observing that the submission was “not acceptable”, the bench said the amendments, which are formal in nature – namely in the grounds or prayer clause of the writ petition – “primarily legal in nature”, can be permitted to be passed by means of the proposed amendment without being supported by any application filed accompanied by an affidavit, pursuant to the order passed by the competent court relating to the nature of the relief.

“However, amendments to the body of the petition, which relate to factual assertions, shall be filed strictly in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Order VI, Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure. This means that the amendments must be made by filing an application supported by an affidavit under Order VI, Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure.We therefore do not consider it appropriate to accept the draft amendments dated 28.10.2024, on affidavit, which are not supported by any application filed on behalf of the petitioner.“, the court said.

The Court rejected the draft amendments; he, however, granted liberty to petitioner’s counsel to file an appropriate motion for amendment of the writ petition.

The Court then ordered the Registrar (Judicial) to disseminate his order within the department, publish it on the website and share it with the President of the Bar Association and then post the order on his board display to ensure compliance.

“This order be disseminated by the Registrar (Judicial) of his department so as to ensure compliance with the instructions contained herein.“, he directed.

Case Title: Hemalkumar Vinodbhai Dodiya & Ors. against the state of Gujarat

Click here to read/download the order