HIGH COURT OF CALCUTTA
SARMA SARKAR
AHMED HOSSEIN - Appellant
Versus
MT. CHEMBELLI - Respondent
Application For Amendment Of Plaint In Ordinary Original Suit 105 Of 1947
Decided On : APRIL 12, 1949
Amendment of Plaint - Dishonoured Cheque - Negotiable Instruments Act - Sections 30, 91-98 - The court allowed the amendment of the plaint to include statements regarding notice of dishonour, rejecting the defendants' contention that the plaint did not disclose a cause of action and that Order 7, Rule 11 took away the Court's power to allow the amendment.
Fact of the Case:
The plaintiff sought to amend the plaint in a suit on a dishonoured cheque to include statements regarding notice of dishonour, which was opposed by the defendants. The defendants argued that the plaint did not disclose a cause of action and that Order 7, Rule 11 took away the Court's power to allow the amendment.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the facts relating to the notice of dishonour are part of the cause of action on a dishonoured cheque and that Order 7, Rule 11 does not take away the Court's power to order amendment of the plaint.
Issues: The issues revolved around whether the plaint disclosed a cause of action and whether Order 7, Rule 11 affected the Court's power to allow the amendment.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the facts relating to the notice of dishonour are part of the cause of action on a dishonoured cheque and that Order 7, Rule 11 does not take away the Court's power to order amendment of the plaint.
Final Decision: The court allowed the application for amendment of the plaint and directed the plaintiff to pay the costs of the application and any additional written statement necessitated by the amendment.
( 1 ) THIS is an application for amendment of the plaint. The suit is on a dishonoured cheque. The plaint did not state that any notice of dishonour has been given or that any circumstances existed which rendered it unnecessary to give such notice. The plaintiff now seeks to introduce these statements in the plaint by an amendment. The application is opposed by the defendants on the ground that by reason of the absence of these allegations the plaint as it stands now discloses no cause of action and hence it must be rejected under Order 7, Rule 11 (a), Civil P. C. and the Court has no power to allow the amendment. The defendants rely on the judgment of Gentle J. in Sailesh Nath v. J. Chaudhury, 50 C. W. N. 540 which directly supports their contention.
( 2 ) THE plaintiff's answer is two fold : First the plaint discloses a cause of action in spite of the omission to state anything with regard to the notice of dishonour and secondly that Order 7, Rule 11, does not take away the Court's power to order amendment of the plaint and that Gentle J. was wrong.
( 3 ) WITH regard to the first point the plaintiff's contention is that the facts relating to the notice of dishonour are not part of the cause of action on a dishonoured cheque but are mere conditions precedent necessary for the case on the cheque, the performance or occurrence of which is to be implied in the plaint under Order 6, Rule 6 of the Code. I am unable to accept this contention. A cause of action is that bundle of facts which would, if left to itself, create in law a right or obligation, while a condition precedent is something which prevents the right or obligation which would have otherwise sprung out from those facts from springing out. A condition precedent has thus been described in the notes to Order 19, Rule 14 in the White Book :"cases constantly occur in which, although everything has happened which would at common law prima facie entitle a man to a certain sum of money, or vest in him a certain light of action there is yet something more which must be done or something more which must happen in the particular case before he is entitled to sue either by reason of the provisions of some statute, or because the parties have expressly so agreed; this something more is called a condition precedent. It is not of the essence of such a cause of action, but it has been made essential. It is an additional formality superimposed on the common law. "i would in the above quotation add to the words ommon law" the words "or statute. " How the liability of the drawer of a cheque arises under Section 30, Negotiable Instruments Act, and except as laid down in that section the drawer of a dishonoured cheque has no liability. This is because the whole law as to cheques is contained in that Act and the only section dealing with the liability of the drawer of a cheque is Section 30. The section provides that the drawer of a cheque shall be liable to compensate the holder in case of dishonour "provided due notice of dishonour has been given to, or received by, the drawer as hereinafter provided. " Sections 91 to 98 of the Act lay down the provisions relating to the manner of the giving of the notice of dishonour and the cases where the giving of the notice is excused. The only way therefore in which liability on a cheque may arise is when (1) the cheque is dishonoured and (2) notice of such dishonour has been given or circumstances exist which render it unnecessary to give such notice. It is not a case where if no provisions as to notice of dishonour had been laid down, a right would have arisen in the holder on the dishonour of the cheque and where the only effect of those provisions is to prevent such right from springing up. The notice of dishonour as the law as to cheques stands is a part of the cause of action on a dishonoured cheque. In Fruhauf v. Grosvenor and Co. , (1892) 67 I. T. 350 : (61 L. J. Q. B. 717), Lord Coleridge C. J. , expressed himself in these w
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