Plaint Can't Be Rejected Under Order VII Rule 11 As Barred Under Order II Rule 2 CPC : Supreme Court

In a significant clarification regarding the Code of Civil Procedure, the Supreme Court has held that a plaint cannot be rejected under Order VII Rule 11 CPC on the ground that the suit is barred by Order II Rule 2 CPC. The Court observed that while deciding an application for rejection of plaint, the inquiry must be confined strictly to the averments made in the plaint. It is impermissible for courts at this stage to undertake a detailed comparison of pleadings or examine whether a subsequent suit is barred under Order II Rule 2, as such a determination requires evidence and cannot be decided at the threshold. A bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing an appeal against the Madras High Court's decision to reject a subsequent suit under Order VII Rule 11(d) CPC. The appellants challenged the High Court's approach of undertaking a detailed examination of pleadings and documents in both the earlier and subsequent suits at the threshold stage. They argued that the question of whether a suit is barred under Order II Rule 2 CPC can only be determined on the basis of evidence during trial, and not at the preliminary stage by invoking Order VII Rule 11(d) CPC. Order II Rule 2 CPC says that the plaintiff must include the whole of the claim which the he/she is entitled to make in respect of the cause of action. If any claim with respect to the cause of action is omitted, then a second suit cannot be filed for such omitted claim.Order VII Rule 11(d) provides a power to the civil court to reject the suit at the threshold if it is barred by law. Background The case arose from a family dispute involving multiple properties and two separate civil suits. The original owner, late M. Sokkalingam, along with his wife, had initially filed a suit seeking injunction against their son. Subsequently, after his death, the widow and daughters instituted a second suit seeking a declaration that a Power of Attorney executed in favour of a third party was void, alleging fraud, coercion, and undue influence. The defendants sought rejection of the second plaint under Order VII Rule 11 CPC, contending that the suit was barred by Order II Rule 2 since the relief ought to have been claimed in the earlier suit. While the trial court rejected this contention and allowed the suit to proceed, the Madras High Court interfered in revision and rejected the plaint, holding that both suits arose from the same cause of action and thus barred under Order II Rule 2 CPC, leading to an appeal before the Supreme Court.DecisionUpon carefully perusing the Appellant's arguments as well as the aforesaid provision, the judgment authored by Justice Nagarathna found force in the Appellant's submission, stating that the High Court erred in doing a detailed comparison between the earlier and a subsequent suit at the stage of hearing an application seeking rejection of a plaint. “We think that in a case where Order II Rule 2 of the Code applies, there is no legal bar to filing a suit but the reliefs sought for or the claims made therein cannot be granted if the conditions mentioned therein apply. For arriving at such a conclusion, there has to be evidence let in in order to determine whether the provision of Order II Rule 2 would apply to the suit or not. On the other hand, in the case of Order VII Rule 11(d), if there is express or implied bar for filing of a suit under any law then on a meaningful reading of the plaint, it has to be rejected. The suit need not proceed to record evidence on merits but only to the extent where evidence is necessary to be recorded for the purpose of rejection of the plaint such as on the ground of the suit being bit by law of limitation or on the principle of res judicata. Thus, the bar created by any law to the filing of a suit is different from a plaintiff suing for certain claims or reliefs which he could not have claimed or sued having regard to Order II Rule 2 of the Code. Therefore, in our view, the application of Order II Rule 2 cannot be construed to be a ground for rejection of the plaint under Order VII Rule 11(d) of the Code.”, the court observed. “…approach of the High Court in analysing the averments made in the second suit as if it is evidence, in juxtaposition with the averments made in the first suit is improper in view of our aforesaid discussion.”, the court held. Accordingly, the appeal was allowed, and the order passed by the trial court was restored.HeadnoteCode of Civil Procedure, 1908 – Order VII Rule 11(d) vs. Order II Rule 2 – Rejection of Plaint – Distinction between "Bar to Sue" and "Suit Barred by Law" – The Supreme Court held that the application of Order II Rule 2 (relinquishment of part of claim or omission to sue for one of several reliefs) cannot be a ground for rejection of a plaint under Order VII Rule 11(d) - While Order VII Rule 11(d) applies when a suit is barred by an express or implied law (e.g., Section 34 of the SARFAESI Act), Order II Rule 2...

Plaint Can't Be Rejected Under Order VII Rule 11 As Barred Under Order II Rule 2 CPC : Supreme Court

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Plaint Can't Be Rejected Under Order VII Rule 11 As Barred Under Order II Rule 2 CPC : Supreme Court

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