Landmark Judgments

Framing all issues does not exhaust the power under Order XIV Rule 2(2) CPC to try a qualifying issue of law first, but once trial of the issues generally has begun,…

CPCOrder XIV Rule 2 CPCPreliminary issueFraming and trial of issues

A plaint pleading joint possession cannot be rejected under Order VII Rule 11 CPC for non-payment of ad valorem court fee; whether ad valorem or fixed court fee is…

CPCCourt-fees ActOrder VII Rule 11 CPCRejection of plaintCourt fee

Laying down guidelines for summary judgment under Order XIII-A CPC, the Court held DDA's defences to an auction purchaser's refund suit fanciful after the land's…

CPCConstitutionSummary judgmentOrder XIII-A CPCCommercial suits

An English summary judgment entered after refusing leave to defend despite triable issues was not on the merits and was unenforceable in India under Sections 13 and 44A…

CPCForeign judgmentsSection 13 CPCSummary judgment

Framing issues in an ex parte suit is not mandatory, but the judgment must still state and answer points for determination under Order XX Rule 4; dismissing a specific…

CPCEx parte decreeFraming of issuesPoints for determination

Pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 is mandatory; a suit filed in breach of it must be rejected under Order VII Rule 11 CPC, a…

Commercial Courts ActCPCConstitutionPre-institution mediationCommercial Courts ActRejection of plaint

The 120-day limit for filing a written statement under Order V Rule 1 and Order VIII Rules 1 and 10 CPC, as amended by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, is mandatory;…

CPCWritten statementCommercial Courts Act, 2015120-day limit

Section 23 of the Travancore-Cochin High Court Act, requiring reference to a third Judge when a Division Bench differs on fact or law, is special law prevailing over…

CPCConstitutionDifference of opinion in Division BenchSpecial and general lawSection 98 CPC

The Court held that a plaintiff cannot seek a declaration that its adverse possession has matured into ownership, since adverse possession can be pleaded only as a…

Adverse possessionShield not swordDeclaratory suit

A civil court acting under Section 89 CPC cannot refer a suit to arbitration unless all parties agree; the Court read Section 89 purposively, listed cases unsuitable for…

CPCArbitration ActSection 89 CPCAlternative dispute resolutionArbitration requires consent

An English ex parte decree passed without any consideration of evidence or of the points in controversy is not a judgment on the merits under Section 13(b) CPC and…

CPCEvidence ActForeign judgmentsEx parte decreeSection 13(b) CPC

The Court held that dismissal of a special leave petition, whether by a speaking or non-speaking order, does not attract the doctrine of merger, so the High Court's…

ConstitutionCPCDoctrine of mergerArticle 136Special leave petition

Guru Granth Sahib installed in a gurdwara is a juristic person that can hold property; the High Court's contrary view was set aside and the Tribunal's finding that the…

Juristic personGuru Granth SahibReligious endowments

The Court laid down guidelines for interlocutory mandatory injunctions and restored an injunction keeping a stranger purchaser out of a family dwelling house under…

TPAInterim mandatory injunctionTemporary injunctionSection 44 Transfer of Property Act

Section 11 CPC, through Explanation VI, applies to public interest litigation, but only where the earlier litigation was bona fide; on the merits, combining a bus depot…

CPCRes judicataPublic interest litigationExplanation VI, Section 11 CPC

A civil suit lay to recover sales tax collected under notifications void under Article 301, despite the bar in Section 17 of the Madhya Bharat Sales Tax Act; the Court…

CPCConstitutionSection 9 CPCExclusion of civil court jurisdictionRefund of tax

The Court held that adequacy of court-fee on a plaint is primarily a question between the plaintiff and the State, and that a defendant has no right to challenge an…

CPCCourt-feesRevisional jurisdictionSection 115 CPC

A decree of an appellate court that lacked pecuniary jurisdiction only because the suit was undervalued is not a nullity; under Section 11 of the Suits Valuation Act it…

Suits Valuation ActCPCDecree without jurisdictionPecuniary jurisdictionSuits valuation