Introduction

• This is a landmark case related to rejection of plaint.

Facts

• The respondents, as plaintiffs, initiated suits in 2002 challenging specific judgments and decrees.
• The eighth appellant sought the dismissal of the suits under Order VII Rule 11 Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC), asserting that the plaints lacked merit.
• In response, the respondents also filed an application under Order VIII Rule 10 CPC and another under Section 151 CPC for the court to decide the application under Order VII Rule 11 before other proceedings.
• The trial judge dismissed the application under Order VIII Rule 10 and Section 151 CPC, directing the appellant to file a written statement.
• The appellant challenged this decision in revision petitions before the High Court, which affirmed the trial court's order.
• The present appeals question the correctness of the High Court's ruling.

Issue involved

• Whether an application under Order VII Rule 11 C.P.C. ought to be decided on the allegations in the plaint and filing of the written statement by the contesting defendant is irrelevant and unnecessary?

Observation

• Upon reviewing the relevant legal provisions, the court found that for the purposes of deciding an application under Order VII Rule 11 CPC, the pertinent facts were the averments in the plaint.
• The trial court could exercise this power at any stage of the suit, and at that stage, the written statement of the defendant was deemed irrelevant.
• The court concluded that the trial court's order, upheld by the High Court, had suffered from non-exercising of jurisdiction and procedural irregularity.

Conclusion

• Consequently, the court allowed the appeals, setting aside the common order and remitting the cases to the trial court for a decision on the application under Order VII Rule 11 C.P.C. based on the plaint's averments. No costs were awarded in these civil appeals.