Order 37 reverses the usual position in civil litigation. In an ordinary suit the defendant files a written statement and the case runs its course. In a summary suit, the defendant has to persuade the court to let them defend at all.
When it is available
Order 37 Rule 1 applies to suits upon:
- Bills of exchange, hundis and promissory notes
- Suits where the plaintiff seeks to recover a debt or liquidated demand in money, with or without interest, arising on a written contract, on an enactment where the sum sought is a fixed sum of money or a debt other than a penalty, or on a guarantee where the claim against the principal is for a debt or liquidated demand
It is not available for unliquidated damages, or where the claim needs evidence to establish the amount.
How it runs
- The plaint is filed with a specific averment that the suit is under Order 37 and that no relief outside its scope is claimed.
- Summons is served. The defendant must enter appearance within 10 days. If they do not, the allegations are deemed admitted and the plaintiff is entitled to a decree.
- The plaintiff then serves a summons for judgment.
- The defendant must apply for leave to defend within 10 days, supported by an affidavit disclosing the facts of the defence.
Following IDBI Trusteeship Services v. Hubtown (2016): if the defence raises a substantial and genuine triable issue, leave is granted unconditionally. If it is plausible but improbable, leave may be granted on condition of depositing the amount claimed or part of it. If the defence is frivolous or vexatious, or the defendant effectively admits the claim, leave is refused and the plaintiff gets a decree. That conditional deposit is what makes this procedure powerful.
Why it matters commercially
A defendant who is simply delaying has to put money into court to keep fighting. That changes the negotiation entirely, and a large share of these suits settle at the leave-to-defend stage.
The practical requirement
Your claim must be on paper. A signed agreement, an acknowledged invoice, a promissory note, a guarantee, a confirmed statement of account. If the arrangement was oral, Order 37 is not open to you and an ordinary suit is the route.