In Brief
Life Insurance Corporation of India sought to challenge an order that allowed a third company, Kedia Construction Company Limited, to be impleaded as a plaintiff in a 28-year-old specific performance suit through an assignment of contractual rights. The Supreme Court held that allowing impleadment after 27 years of litigation vitally affects the defendant's substantial rights of defence and therefore constitutes a 'judgment' appealable under Letters Patent. The Court held that applications for impleadment in specific performance suits must be filed within a reasonable time, and that in commercial litigation between sophisticated parties, such unreasonable delay combined with serious prejudice justifies rejection. The appeal was allowed and the impleadment application dismissed.
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