Can Third Party To Decree File Order IX Rule 13 CPC Application? Supreme Court Refers To Larger Bench
The Supreme Court has referred to a larger Bench the question whether a third party to a civil decree can maintain an application under Order IX Rule 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, seeking to set aside an ex parte decree.A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran took note of conflicting decisions rendered earlier by coordinate Benches of the Court on...
The Supreme Court has referred to a larger Bench the question whether a third party to a civil decree can maintain an application under Order IX Rule 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, seeking to set aside an ex parte decree.
A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran took note of conflicting decisions rendered earlier by coordinate Benches of the Court on the issue.
While a 2004 judgment in Raj Kumar vs Sardari Lal & Ors. had held that a third party to a decree could maintain such an application, a later judgment in Ram Prakash Agarwal & Anr. vs Gopi Krishan (Dead) through Lrs. (2013) took a contrary view, without referring to the earlier ruling.
The Court also recorded that subsequent judgments had followed the 2004 decision, again without noticing the 2013 ruling, thereby deepening the inconsistency in the law.
Observing that it was “proper and appropriate” for the issue to be settled “comprehensively and once and for all”, the Bench said that a larger Bench decision was necessary “so as to give a quietus to this legal conundrum”. The matter has accordingly been directed to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders on constituting a larger Bench.
The case arises from a special leave petition challenging a 2019 order of the High Court of Judicature at Madras.
Senior Advocates Raghenth Basant for the petitioner and N. S. Nappinai for the respondents.
Case Title: N. Rajaram v. R. Murali & Ors.
Case No.: SLP (C) No. 29260 of 2019