Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : P.S.NARAYANA
P.Raghu - Appellant
Versus
K.Anjaiah - Respondent
Decided On : 11-27-03
Constitution of India – Article 227 – Civil Procedure Code, 1908 – Section 151 – Order 13, 8 and 18 – Rules 1, 2, 27 – Amendment Act, 1999 – Section 23 – Indian Evidence Act, 1872 – Section 74 – Material irregularity – Evidence – Learned Counsel representing petitioners- defendants would contend that these are all documents issued by Municipality local body and in fact these documents are public documents within meaning of section 74 of Indian Evidence Act, 1872 – Learned Counsel also submitted that it is no doubt true that after closure of evidence on side of plaintiff before commencement of evidence on defendants side present application was filed to receive documents in question mere fact that documents were not specified in written statement by itself may not be a ground – Learned counsel also had taken this Court through reasons explained affidavit filed in support of application and had submitted and circumstances of case learned Judge should have permitted petitioners to rely on these documents which are having material bearing on questions in controversy between parties – Held, Impugned order cannot be disturbed in present revision under article 227 of Constitution of India, placing reliance on Madanlal s case no doubt true that Apex court had observed that when documents were not produced at an appropriate stage, such documents not to be received by the court unless good cause is shown – Apex court also in that context, no doubt, had dealt with what is the meaning of the expression material irregularity in exercise of jurisdiction in the context of Section 115 of Code. It is needless to say that by virtue of Amending Acts, Section 115 of Code also had been amended and present Civil Revision Petition is filed under Article 227 of Constitution of India – It is needless to say that this remedy is a constitutional remedy, falling under concept of basic structure which cannot be disturbed in any way – It is also pertinent to note that other limitations and technicalities which were hitherto available in case of revisions filed as against interlocutory orders under Section 115 of Code may not be applicable – Civil revision petition is accordingly disposed.
( 1 ) HEARD Sri M. Rajamalla reddy, learned Counsel representing the petitioners-defendants and Sri K. Govind, learned Counsel representing the respondent- plaintiff.
( 2 ) THIS Civil Revision Petition is preferred by the petitioners aggrieved by an order made in LA. No. 143 of 2003 in O. S. No. 63 of 2000 on the file of Junior Civil judge, Siddipet. The revision petitioners filed the said application under Order 13 Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (for brevity, the Code ) to receive the documents. The documents produced are the Municipal permission and plan dated 19-12-1978, certificate of ownership, dated 21-3-2003 and house tax payment receipts (ten in number) from 1991 to 2002. The learned junior Civil Judge at paras 7 and 8 had recorded the reasons and ultimately had dismissed the said application. Aggrieved by the same, the present Civil Revision petition is filed.
( 3 ) SRI M. Rajamalla Reddy, the learned Counsel representing the petitioners- defendants would contend that these are all documents issued by the Municipality, a local body and in fact these documents are public documents within the meaning of section 74 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The learned Counsel also submitted that it is no doubt true that after closure of evidence on the side of the plaintiff before the commencement of evidence on defendants side, the present application was filed to receive the documents in question. The mere fact that the documents were not specified in the written statement by itself may not be a ground. The learned counsel also had taken this Court through the reasons explained in the affidavit filed in support of the application and had submitted that in the facts and circumstances of the case, the learned Judge should have permitted the petitioners to rely on these documents which are having material bearing on the questions in controversy between the parties. The learned Counsel also had placed reliance on Billa Jagan mohan Reddy v. Billa Sanjeeva Reddy, 1994 (3) ALT 41 (SC), and also in Gullipalli naram Naidu v. Kinthali Kumaraswami, 2003 (2) ALD 544 = 2003 (2) ALT 406.
( 4 ) PER contra, Sri K. Govind, the learned Counsel representing the respondent- plaintiff had taken this Court through the provisions of the Code, Order 13 Rules 1 and 2 of the Code as they stood prior to the Amending Act and subsequent thereto and also had explained the object of deletion of Order 13 Rule 2 of the Code and further explained Order 8 Rule 1 (A) of the Code in this regard. The Counsel also had drawn the attention of this Court to section 32 (P) of Act (46 of 1999) and also Section 23 of the said Act and had submitted that in the light of these provisions especially in view of the fact that these documents were not referred to in the written statement and they were produced at a belated stage before the commencement of the evidence on the defendants side, the learned Judge is well justified in dismissing the said application. The learned Counsel also maintained that these documents are not public documents and even otherwise, no good cause or sufficient cause had been shown and on that ground when an application for reception of documents was dismissed by the learned Judge, such order may not fall within the meaning of material irregularity in exercise of jurisdiction and hence, the revision itself is not maintainable. The learned Counsel had placed strong reliance on Madanlal v. Shyamlal, (2002) 1 scc 535, and also in Palakurthy venkateswarlu v. Noroju Manorama, 2003 (1) ALT 231.
( 5 ) HEARD both the learned Counsel.
( 6 ) THE petitioners filed LA. No. 143 of 2003 in O. S. No. 63 of 2000 on the file of junior Civil Judge, Siddipet for reception of documents i. e. , Municipal Permission and plan dated 19-12-1978, Certificate of ownership dated 21-3-2003 and house tax receipts from 1991 to 2002 (10 in number) under Order 13 Rules 1 and 2 of the Code read with Section 151 of the Code. It is stated in the affi
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