The Delhi High Court on Tuesday strongly condemned a litigant for attempting to blame his former lawyer to justify a last-minute amendment to pleadings in a 30-year-old civil suit [Bhoop Singh Gola v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Anr].."This practice of throwing trash on the previous counsel must be deprecated. The erstwhile counsel would not even be aware that he is being maligned, that too without being heard," said the Court.Justice Girish Kathpalia dismissed the petition filed by Bhoop Singh Gola, who had challenged a trial court order refusing to allow amendments to the plaint at the stage of final arguments..In October 2025, the trial court had denied the amendment request, noting that an earlier amendment plea by the same plaintiff had already been dismissed and had attained finality..When the matter reached the High Court, the petitioner argued that his earlier counsel had failed to incorporate the necessary pleadings, forcing him to seek amendments at this late stage.However, Justice Kathpalia strongly disagreed with this justification, pointing out that litigants could not avoid procedural requirements by shifting blame on former attorneys."The petition is not just devoid of merit but also appears to be totally frivolous.".The Court emphasised that the case - which had pending for three decades - had already reached its final stage, with both sides having concluded arguments.Therefore, the limitations imposed by Order VI Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure applied, requiring the petitioner to demonstrate why the proposed pleadings could not have been raised earlier. The Court observed that the plaintiff could not claim ignorance..The Court said that allowing such amendments would amount to a "travesty of justice" in a lawsuit that had already taken up thirty years of court time since it would require the defendants to file new pleadings and reopen the trial.In addition to upholding the trial court's order, the High Court ordered the petitioner to pay ₹25,000 in costs, which must be deposited with the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee within two weeks..Senior Advocate Sandeep Sharma along with Advocates Hunny Singh, RK Sonkiya, Naveen Kumar and Sumit appeared for the petitioner.The respondent was represented by Advocates Shruti Goel and Manika Tripathy..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
