Section 121 — Effect of rules in First Schedule
The Code has two layers. The sections (§§ 1–158) are its body; the First Schedule — the Orders (I–LI) — is its detailed procedure. § 121 gives those Orders the same force: they take effect as if enacted in the body of the Code. The difference is that they hold only until annulled or altered under this Part — so the procedural rules can be changed by the High Courts, not only by the legislature.
How to read Section 121
The Orders have the force of the Code
The rules in the First Schedule take effect as if enacted in the body of the Code — they are statutory law, not mere guidance.
But amendable under this Part
They have that force until annulled or altered in accordance with Part X (§§ 122–131) — the rule-making power of the High Courts.
Sections vs Orders
The sections are amended only by the legislature; the First Schedule Orders can be changed by the High Courts — keeping procedure flexible while the substance stays fixed.
The bare Act
The rules in the First Schedule shall have effect as if enacted in the body of this Code until annulled or altered in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
→ The First Schedule = the Orders I–LI (the Code’s procedural rules); their statutory force comes from § 121, and the power to annul or alter them is §§ 122–131 (High Courts’ rule-making).
Note. § 121 stands as in the original Code. It is the hinge of the Code’s two-tier design — fixed sections + amendable Orders — the latter kept current by the courts under Part X.
Key terms decoded
The Code’s schedule of Orders (I–LI) and their rules — the detailed procedure for suits, evidence, execution, appeals, etc.
The numbered rules within each Order — e.g. Order V (summons), Order XXI (execution), Order XLI (appeals).
They carry the same legal force as the sections — binding law, not directory. A breach is a breach of the Code.
Repealed or amended — the Orders can be changed, but only in the manner this Part lays down (by High-Court rules).
Under Part X (§§ 122–131) — the High Courts’ power to make, annul and alter the rules, with approval and publication.
The body sections change only by statute; the Schedule Orders change by High-Court rules — substance fixed, procedure flexible.
The picture — two layers, one force
§ 121 is the hinge of the Code’s two-tier design. The First Schedule Orders are not a lesser appendix — they have the full force of the Code. But because procedure must keep pace with practice, § 121 lets them be annulled or altered by the High Courts under the rest of this Part, without troubling the legislature.
Section 121, part by part
Connected provisions
Section 121 opens Part X — Rules. It gives the First Schedule Orders the force of the Code, and the rest of the Part supplies the machinery to annul or alter them: the High Courts’ rule-making power (§ 122), the matters rules may cover (§ 128), and approval & publication (§§ 126–127).