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Section 148: Right to lodge a caveat

Code of Civil Procedure • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1908
Section 147 All 158 Sections of Code of Civil Procedure Section 149

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 148

Section 148 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 empowers civil courts to enlarge time fixed or granted for the doing of any act prescribed by the Code, subject to the statutory 30-day cap.

  • Core Legal Standard: Section 148 provides: 'Where any period is fixed or granted by the Court for the doing of any act prescribed or allowed by this Code, the Court may, in its discretion, from time to time, enlarge such period not exceeding thirty days in the total, even though the period originally fixed or granted may have expired.'.
  • Exceptions & Statutory Safeguards: The 1999 Amendment introduced the phrase 'not exceeding thirty days in the total' to curtail inordinate delays in paying court fees, depositing security, or filing process. However, the Supreme Court has clarified that this 30-day cap is directory and does not curtail the inherent powers of the court under Section 151 to extend time beyond thirty days in exceptional circumstances to prevent failure of justice.

Section 148 balances judicial discretion with procedural discipline by empowering courts to enlarge prescribed timelines, subject to the strict statutory thirty-day ceiling.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Salem Advocate Bar Assn. (II) v. Union of India, (2005) 6 SCC 344: The Supreme Court held that the 30-day cap in Section 148 is directory; the court retains inherent power under Section 151 to extend time beyond 30 days in genuine cases of impossibility, illness, or circumstances beyond control.
  • Mahanth Ram Das v. Ganga Das, AIR 1961 SC 882: The Supreme Court held that an application for extension of time under Section 148 can be granted even after the expiry of the period originally fixed, provided the court has not become functus officio.
Legal Commentary:

Section 148 applies strictly to acts 'prescribed or allowed by this Code' (such as depositing deficient court fees under Section 149 or filing written statements). It has no application to periods of limitation fixed by the Limitation Act, 1963, or conditional decrees where the court specifically directs that the suit shall stand dismissed automatically upon default.

Section 147 All 158 Sections of Code of Civil Procedure Section 149