S.S.Sandhawalia, C.J. - (1.) Whether-R. 3-A of O. 18 of the Civil P. C. envisages that permission of the Court for a party to appear as his own witness subsequent to his other witnesses must necessarily be obtained at the very commencement of the evidence and not later, is the rather significant question which falls for determination in this civil revision admitted to a hearing by the Division Bench.
(2.) It is unnecessary to advert to the facts in any great detail. It suffices to mention that the trial Court for adequate reasons accorded permission (despite objection raised on behalf of the defendant) to the plaintiff for appearing as his own witness on an application made by him apparently after he had already examined evidence in support of his case. This order is sought to be challenged. primarily on the basis of the judgment re-ported as Jagannath Nayak v. Laxminarayan Thakur, AIR 1978 Orissa 1, which undoubtedly supports the case of the petitioner.
(3.) As the controversy must necessarily revolve around the provisions of the statute, it is reproduced for facility of reference.- "R. 3-A. Party to appear before other witnesses. Where a party himself wishes to appear as a witness, he shall so appear before any other witness on his behalf has been examined, unless the Court, for reasons to be recorded, permits him to appear as his own witness at a later stage.";