Section 006

Procedure of the Court and appeal. — (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force all written submissions to the Court under this Act shall be filed with the Registrar of the Company Bench.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, written submissions shall, inter alia, include-

(a) a petition or application setting out a concise statement of facts, grounds and the relief claimed;

(b) a written reply with particulars of set off, if any;

(c) an affidavit of facts by the petitioner or applicant, or respondent, as the case may be, including affidavits, if required, of other persons in support of the case, duly attested by the oath commissioner, or as may be provided under the rules;

(d) any other relevant documents in possession of the petitioner or applicant or respondent, as the case may be;

(e) any application for discovery of documents [1][or any category or classes of documents”] or interim injunction, if required;

(f) a list of any case law along with a summary of the same on which the petitioner or applicant is placing reliance;

(g) address for effecting service, mobile number, email and fax or any other mode notified by the Court; and

(h) any other document as may be required by the Registrar of the Company Bench.

(3) Where any petition or application is filed under any provision of this Act, summons may be issued by the Registrar of the Company Bench along with a copy of the petition or application and the documents annexed therewith and the same shall be served on the respondent through the bailiff or process server of the Court, through registered post, acknowledgement due, by courier and by publication in one English language and one Urdu language daily newspaper and, in addition, if so, directed by the Court through electronic modes, and the service duly effected through any one of the modes mentioned under this sub-section shall be deemed to be valid service.

Explanation.: “electronic modes” means service of summons on a party or other person by electronic transmission through devices such as, facsimile, email, or in such other form or mode as may be notified by the Court.

(4) The respondent shall file a written reply and particulars of set-off, if any, as set out in sub-section (2) of this section with the concerned Registrar of the Company Bench within thirty days from the date of first service through any of the modes as laid down in sub-section (3).

(5) Where the respondent fails to file the written reply within the time prescribed in sub-section (4), a report shall be submitted by the Registrar of the Company Bench before the Court and the Court may pass necessary orders to proceed exparte and announce the final order on the basis of the documents available on record.

(6) The Registrar of the Company Bench, on completion of receipt of all written submissions and after ensuring that all copies of such written submissions are duly supplied to the parties as per procedure laid down by the Court, shall present the case file to the Court on a day fixed under notice to the parties, within forty-five days of the first service of notices or such extended time as may be granted by the Court.

(7) The Court after consulting the counsel of the parties shall fix a date and allocate time for hearing of the case.

(8) No adjournment shall be granted once the Court has fixed a date of hearing under sub-section (7) and it will be duty of the parties to ensure the presence of their respective counsel or in absence of the counsel make alternate arrangements:

Provided that only in exceptional circumstances beyond control of a party, the Court may grant another opportunity of hearing subject to the payment of an amount of rupees ten thousand or such higher amount as may be determined by the Court as costs to be paid to the Court.

(9) The Court shall treat affidavits, counter affidavits and other documents filed by the parties to the proceedings as evidence and decide the matter on the basis of the documents and affidavits placed before the Court, in a summary manner and pass final orders within the time stipulated in sub-section (11).

(10) In exceptional circumstances where the Court is of the view that any issue of facts requires cross examination, the Court may order attendance of the relevant deponent or deponents for the purposes of cross examination by such opposing party or parties as the Court deems fit and for the purposes of this section the affidavit filed by such deponent shall be considered as his examination-in-chief:

Provided that—

(i) the Court may refer the matter to the Registrar of the Company Bench or any other person for recording of cross examination of the deponent who shall complete recording of cross examination within thirty days from the date of the order of the Court, or such extended time as may be allowed by the Court which shall not be more than fifteen days on payment of rupees ten thousand or such higher amount as may be determined by the Court as costs payable to the Court and to submit a report accordingly;

(ii) all questions and answers along with any objections raised by any party shall be duly recorded in writing; and

(iii) the Registrar of the Company Bench shall have all the powers of the Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (V of 1908) for the purposes of execution of service and summoning of deponents and conducting cross examination in accordance with the directions of the Court.

(11) The petition presented before the Court shall be decided within a period of one hundred and twenty days from the date of presentation of the case and for this purpose the Court may, if it is in the interest of justice, conduct the proceedings on a day-to-day basis and if the Court deems fit it may impose costs which may extend to one hundred thousand rupees per day or such higher amount as the Court may determine against any party to the proceeding causing the delay.

(12) The Court may, at any time, take notice of serious misstatements and material non-disclosure of facts by any party to the proceedings and dismiss the petition or application or close the right of defence of the respondent with costs of the proceedings and impose a fine which may extend to one hundred thousand rupees whichever is higher and pass a final order.

(13) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the Registrar of the Company Bench shall place any application for interim relief including any interlocutory order before the Court for adjudication immediately upon its filing.

(14) Any person aggrieved by any judgment or final order of the Court passed in its original jurisdiction under this Act may, within sixty days, file a petition for leave to appeal in the Supreme Court of Pakistan:

Provided that no appeal or petition shall lie against any interlocutory order of the Court.

(15) Save as otherwise expressly provided under this Act, the provisions of the Qanun-e-Shahadat (Order)1984 (P.O. No. X of 1984) and the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908) shall not apply to the proceedings under this section except to such extent as the Court may determine in its discretion.

[1] Inserted through Companies Amendment Act, 2021 dated 03-12-2021