In a civil case the petition was dismissed in Default by the Trial Court. The application for restoration under Order 9 Rule 9 was also dismissed by the trial Court. An appeal was file with the District & Sessions Court under Order 43 Rule 1(c) of CPC. The respondents are not giving any reply and are just taking dates on one or the other pretext because the petition would itself become in fructuous after some time. They have already been able to prolong for 8 months from the date of filing of the Appeal.
My questions are
a. Is there no time limit for compelling the respondents to file a reply to the appeal or they can prolong it indefinitely like this?
b. If there is a limit of time that can be provided to the respondents how much is that and what is the relevant provision in CPC
c. What should the appellant do in such a situation?