On the initial hearing when the defendant appears before the Court, time is given to him to file the written statement and next date of hearing is fixed for the defendant to file the written statement. Normally 30 days time is allowed to the defendant. However requests for more time by the defendant are generally granted.

However, it is up to you to be assertive and to oppose any postponement sought by the Defendant. Incidentally, the court is also empowered to levy a fine (called "costs") upon the defendant for his failure to file a written statement. You can either persuade the Court to grant a postponement subject to a payment of fine (which could act as a deterrent) or you can persuade the court to post the case to its next stage, i.e. recording of evidence.

When the defendant finally files his written statement in the Court, he would have been advised by his lawyer, to deny all the assertions in the plaint and to force the plaintiff to prove each and everything. This is also another clever device to prolong and delay the final outcome of the case, which may not be in favour of the defendant, if you happen to have a bonafide case.

Issues to be framed by the court are a list of disputed questions of fact and of law, which the plaintiff has to prove through evidence. Obviously those facts mentioned by the plaintiff in his plaint, which are not expressly disputed by the defendant need not be proved.

After the Issues are framed the case is then posted for evidence.

The evidence of the Plaintiff is first taken for consideration. He has to stand in the witness box and tell the judge his part of the story. The judge will record whatever he says. The plaintiff will also be cross-examined by the defendant's advocate. Importantly, he will have to specifically point out the documents involved, at the time of leading evidence. The court makes a note of these documents. This is called "marking of documents". He must ensure that all the documents you are relying upon are "marked" by the court. The Court does not take into consideration any document, which is not marked.

Next, other witnesses, if any, on behalf of the plaintiff are examined and such witness can also step into the witness box and narrate the facts to the judge. This, in legal terminology, is called "leading evidence". All the witness of the plaintiff will be cross-examined by the defendant.

After the case of the plaintiff is closed, the evidences on behalf of the defendant are taken up. The defendant is allowed to file any documents from his side and these are also marked as records of the case. The witnesses on behalf of the defendant are cross-examined by the Plaintiff (i.e. by the plaintiff's lawyer). After the evidence of both sides are completed, the case is adjourned for final arguments.

Arguments by both sides are intended to brief the judge with a summary and gist of the evidences produced by each side. This is an important stage in the case, since the judge may not be able to read and assimilate lengthy documents covering evidences on both sides, but he is accustomed for quick perception what is stated in the arguments. Documents are not read during the proceedings, and they have to be studied leisurely by the Judge, after court hours. What if the judge has 50 cases in a day and has to study all the papers? It is customary in many cases for the judge to hear the arguments on both sides and to pronounce the judgement at the court immediately on completion of the arguments. This is possible when the issues involved are simple and properly dealt with.

After the conclusion of arguments the judge may reserve his judgement to be pronounced on a later date or may deliver the same immediately as said earlier. The judgement is expressed in a speaking form. It sums the case proceedings in the court, makes an assessment of the evidences on either side, and draws the logical conclusion. As per the conclusion the reliefs sough by the winning party is expressed. This is called passing the decree in favour of the concerned party i.e. the plaintiff or defendant, as the court pass a decree along with its judgment. A decree is normally passed in favour the plaintiff, who has filed the suit, if the court accepts his pleas. However when the court rejects the submissions of the plaintiff, the case is dismissed. In some times the defendants in such occasions may be awarded the costs of the litigation at the discretion of the court. The decree would have to contain-

1. The date of the judgment

2. The case number,

3. The description of the parties involved,

4. A clear specification of the relief granted

5. The costs of the case

6. The person who is liable to pay the costs

7. The signature of the judge.

Both parties may apply to the court for a copy of the judgement and it is provided to them on their application. This may normally involves a delay of about 10 days.

The process as above appears very simple, but in real life the litigation is dragged for several months and even years. This is not only on account of the delaying tactics adopted by the defendant, but also due to enormous backlog of litigation piled up and pending in civil courts.

Hearing gets adjourned for some reason or other at every stage several times. What is an adjournment?

An adjournment is a postponement of the hearing of the case to a future date for some valid reason such as the illness of the witness, necessity to get additional documents etc. Adjournments may be asked for at various stages of a case, as there is no limit to the number of times it can be asked for. However, the court may impose a small amount of money as penalty while granting an adjournment. The amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure in 2000 sought to limit the number of adjournments to 3 per side, but this has not yet come into force.

Over all litigation is time consuming and may also be costly. Efforts should be made to resort to litigation only as an ultimate remedy.

The party in whose favour the decree is passed is called the decree holder. The other party is called the judgement debtor. The judgement debtor has to implement the court's decree. If he fails to implement, the decree holder can file an execution petition in the court. The execution petition has to be filed in the court at the place where the judgement debtor resides. If immovable property is to be attached it should be filed in the court at the place, where the property is located. For this purpose the judgement-decree has to be transferred to the concerned court in the first instance.

The decree holder has the following options by way of remedy:

1. He can pray the court for the attachment of moveable properties of the judgement debtor, or

2. He may pray for attachment of the standing crops of the judgement-debtor if he is an agriculturist, or

3. He may move for attachment of the immovable property of the judgement debtor, or

4. He may pray for the arrest and detention of the judgement debtor in the civil prison

In all cases he has to furnish clear particulars of the location and details of the moveable properties, standing crops or immovable property, specified. Further the immovable properties to be attached should be free from prior encumbrance. This the decree holder must satisfy the court by providing a non-encumbrance certificate. Certain items like personal clothing, tools of trade and cooking utensils cannot be attached in satisfaction of debts. In some States the dwelling house in which the judgement debtor resides also cannot be attached.

The judgement debtor may plead before the court for repayment of the decreed-debt in convenient installments. When the terms sought are reasonable, it should be in the interest of the decree holder to accept such a proposal.

When the plaintiff loses the original suit, or when the suit is decreed in his favour, the defendant, i.e. the affected party may appeal, if it is considered there are valid grounds of law, and/or facts for preferring the appeal. The Court immediately higher in the court hierarchy to the court, which passed the final judgment, is the court to which you can appeal. The appeal has to be filed within 90 days from the date of decree.

For filing an appeal a certified copy of the decree should be applied and obtained from the Court and filed with the appeal

The appeal will have to be filed in the prescribed form. The general requirements for filing an appeal are:

1. The appeal document must contain the "grounds of appeal". In other words, you must set forth in your appeal memorandum how exactly you are aggrieved by the lower court's order and will have to pinpoint where the judge erred in passing the order.

2. The appeal will have to be signed by either you or your advocate.

The "appellate court" rehears the entire case. The court will examine the judgment of the lower court to ascertain whether it was right in dismissing your case. It will thereafter proceed to pronounce its judgment. The judgment of the appellate court contains

1. The points considered for determination;

2. The decision on the above points

3. The reasons for the decision, and

4. Where the appeal is allowed, the relief to which the appellant is entitled.

(Source- http://www.indialawinfo.com/civil.html)