Tanya Gupta
Published on: March 15, 2022 at 21:35 IST
In the Case of Sri Biswanath Banik and Another Vs. Smt. Sulanga Bose and Others, the Supreme Court noted when an Application is considered Under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1980, a Court cannot Reject the Plaint just by going through few Passages.
The Court must go through the Entire Plaint before Rejecting it.
An Appeal was heard by a Division Bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna, seeking to Assail the Calcutta High Court’s decision.
The Supreme Court stated,
“While considering an Application under Order VII Rule 11 Code of Civil Procedure, the Court has to go through the entire Plaint Averments and cannot Reject the Plaint by reading only few Lines/Passages and Ignoring the other relevant parts of the Plaint.”
The Trial Court’s Refusal to Reject the Plaint under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code was set aside by the High Court.
The Plaint was Rejected by the High Court on the basis that it was Barred by Limitation and that the Suit for Declaration cannot be Maintained under Section 53-A of the Transfer of Property Act.
The Appellants contended before the Apex Court that while the Suit could be barred by Limitation but the High Court had terribly failed in considering the entire Plaint.
The Appellants submitted that the High Court should not have Rejected the Plaint as the Issue with regard to Limitation is a Mixed Question of Facts and Laws.
Further, it was Argued that the Question of getting Relief to the Appellants would have to be considered at the Time of Trial.
On the Contrary, the Respondents submitted that the Suit has to be Rejected under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code once it is Barred by the Limitation.
It was held by the Supreme Court that a Plaint can be Rejected under the Rule only if the Case is Prima Facie Barred by the Limitation.
The Supreme Court observed that it is impermissible to Reject the Plaint just by reading few Lines/Passages under the Order VII Rule 11(d).
The Apex Court majorly relied on its decision in Ram Prakash Gupta Vs. Rajiv Kumar Gupta and Others, (2007) 10 SCC 59.
Furthermore, the Court observed that after going through the Facts of the instant Case, it could not be said that it was Prima Facie barred by Limitation.
Therefore, the Trial Court’s order was Restored by the Apex Court.
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