Amendment Relates Back to Date of Filing the Suit
In Sampath Kumar vs Ayyakannu And Anr [AIR 2002 SC 3369], the Supreme Court held that when an amendment is being made in an Original Suit (OS) or other pleading (formal statement to the court), the change usually relates back to the original date of filing the suit. It means that the court will treat the change as if it were part of the suit from the beginning for every practical purpose.
Court Can Direct Filing Date as Date of Effect
However, the above rule is not always inflexible. In some situations, a court has the power to decide that the amendment will only take effect from the date of filing the amendment, but not the suit’s original filing date. This can be important in cases where the timing of the change could affect the outcome.
CPC Provides the Legal Authority
The Code of Civil Procedure (Order 6, Rule 17) gives the court the authority to allow changes to an Original Suit at any point during the case, as long as it helps resolve the actual dispute between the parties. The main goal is to make sure the court can fully address the real issues at hand.
