Section 27Part 0 —
Procedure
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All parties to be affected by a petition shall, unless the Court orders otherwise, be served with notice thereof in such manner as the Court or the rules may provide.
All suits under this Act shall be tried by a Judge sitting without a jury.
The Court may, if it thinks fit, require the attendance of the petitioner at any hearing, who shall be subject to examination and cross-examination.
The Court may, from time to time, adjourn the hearing of a petition and may require further evidence thereof if it thinks fit, and may require ancillary matters to be dealt with in chambers.
Witnesses in proceedings before the Court, where they can be had, shall be examined viva voce in open court:
Provided that the parties, except as hereinbefore provided, shall be at liberty to verify their respective cases in whole or in part by affidavit, but so that the deponent in each case shall, on the application of the opposite party or by direction of the Court, be subject to be cross-examined by or on behalf of the opposite party viva voce in open court, and, after such cross-examination, may be re-examined orally in open court as aforesaid by or on behalf of the party by whom such affidavit was filed.
Where the Court dispenses with the attendance of a witness for illness or other sufficient cause, it may order that witness to be examined by interrogatories, otherwise by a commissioner or examiner to be appointed by the Court.