2023 Supreme(Bom) 2346
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT NAGPUR BENCH
Avinash G. Gharote, J.
Umesh - Petitioner
Versus
Arvind and others - Respondents
Civil Revision Application No. 1 of 2018
Decided On : 09-06-2023
Advocate Appeared:
For the Applicant :Shri A.V. Bhide, Advocate.
For the Respondent:Shri S.V. Deshmukh, Advocate.
Headnote:(A) Code of Civil Procedure - Sections 148, 149 and 7, Rule 11(b) and (c) - Rejection of counter-claim - The Trial Court rejected the counter-claim due to alleged non-compliance with valuation requirements without adequate reasoning - The court identified that the claimant had complied with all prior orders, thus rendering the rejection incorrect - Delay in filing a correction application does not prevent justice being served. (Paras 2-5)
(B) Jurisdiction of the Court - The court found that it holds jurisdiction to correct errors even in the face of an appealable order, allowing the restoration of a previously rejected counter-claim. (Paras 4-6)
Facts of the case:
The applicant faced dismissal of a counter-claim allegedly due to valuation issues, despite having complied with court orders and paid the requisite fees.
Findings of Court:
The rejection of the counter-claim was erroneous as it failed to acknowledge compliance with prior valuations, necessitating correction under inherent powers of the court.
Issues: Whether the rejection of the counter-claim was justifiable and whether the delay in correcting the order was a barrier to restoration.
Ratio Decidendi: The court determined that compliance with valuation exists, and autonomy in correcting errors in judicial proceedings supersedes predicaments surrounding delay in application filings.
Result: Civil revision application dismissed, with no costs awarded.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. procedural history and background of the case. (Para 2) |
| 2. arguments regarding the appealability and delay in proceedings. (Para 3 , 4) |
| 3. court's rationale for upholding the order despite procedural errors. (Para 5 , 6) |
JUDGMENT :
Avinash G. Gharote, J.
Heard Shri Bhide, learned counsel for the applicant and Shri Deshmukh, learned counsel for the respondent no.1.
2. The revision already stands dismissed as against the respondent nos.3 to 4, who are the original defendant nos.2 to 4 in the suit. In a suit filed by the applicant, namely, Regular Civil Suit No.88/2012 (Old Special Civil Suit No. No.919/2008) the present respondent no.1/defendant no.1 had filed a counter-claim against the applicant/plaintiff. When an objection was raised regarding the valuation, by an order dated 26/09/2011 (pg.33) the learned Trial Court came to the conclusion that from the perusal of the counter-claim it did not appear that the plaintiff in the counter-claim (defendant no.1) had stated necessary facts as regards to the valuation to the counter-claim and therefore, directed him to state them and if necessary to revalue the counter-claim properly and to pay the proper court fee thereon within 15 days. Though it was directed that the same was to be done within a period of 15 days, the order-sheet which had been tendered across the bar indicates that the next date fixed was 04/11/2011 on which date the respondent no.1 herein filed a pursis (pg.34) indicating valuation of the claim in the counter-claim at Rs.1,10,000/- and a deposit of additional court fee of Rs.1260/- along with the pursis bringing the total court fee paid to Rs.1464/-. On 04/11/2011, itself though the learned Trial Court perused the pursis, however, without considering its contents it proceeded to reject the counter claim under Order 7, Rule 11 (b) and (c) of the Code of Civil Procedure ("CPC" for short hereinafter) [pg.35]. Thereafter, on 19/12/2016 an application came to be filed under Section 148 r/w Section 149 of the CPC by the respondent no.1 seeking to set aside the order dated 04/11/2011 rejecting the counter-claim (pg.36) which has been allowed by the impugned order dated 27/06/2017 (24/07/2017) [pg.41] which is the subject matter of the present revision.
3. Mr. Bhide, learned counsel for the applicant submits that the order dated 04/11/2011 rejecting the plaint was an appealable order and therefore application under Section 148 r/w 149 of the CPC was not maintainable. He also contends that there was a huge delay of nearly 5 years in filing the application which also would be a ground to reject the same.
4. Mr. Deshmukh, learned counsel for the respondent no.1 who is the contesting respondent/original defendant no.1 by relying upon Maharashtra State Electricity Board v. Niranjan Alloys Steels Pvt. Ltd , Aurangabad 2007 (2) MhLJ 229 and Mohd. Haroon s/o Mohd. Haneef and another v. Mohd. Younus s/o Mohd. Haneef and others 2018 (1) MhLJ 568 submits that merely because the order dated 04/11/2011 rejecting the plaint was appealable that did not prevent the Court from exercising jurisdiction under Section 148 or for that matter under section 151 of the CPC to correct what was palpably an incorrect order. He further relies upon D.V. Paul v. Manisha Lalwani (2010) 8 SCC 546 (para 31) to contend that the power to extend time, was inherent in the Court in order to do full justice to the parties and could not be taken away by imposing any limit on its exercise.
5. The factual position above would demonstrate that in pursuance to the order dated 26/09/2011 the respondent no.1/defendant no.1 by the pursis dated 04/11/2011 had indeed valued the claim in the counter-claim at Rs.1,10,000/- and had also paid the appropriate court fee. This having been done, the direction as contained in the order dated 26/09/2011 clearly stood complied with. The learned Trial Court having noticed this position, could not have rejected the plaint under Order 7, Rule 11 (b) and (c) of the CPC wi