JUDGMENT

asha Menon, J. - I.as. 13230/2021 (by the defendant No.1 under Order VII Rule 10 read with Section 151 CPC for return of plaint) & 6064/2021 (by the plaintiff under Section 20(b) r/w 151 CPC seeking leave of the court to file the suit in Delhi)

1. This order will dispose of the application filed on behalf of defendant No.1 under Order VII Rule 10 read with Section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code 1908 (for short 'CPC') for return of the plaint as well as the application of the plaintiff under Section 20(b) of the CPC seeking leave to file the suit in Delhi.

2. It is the contention of Mr. Vinay Navare, learned senior counsel for the defendant No.1, that the suit has been filed in Delhi, whereas neither the plaintiff nor the defendant No.1 was located in Delhi. according to learned senior counsel for defendant No. 1, the plaintiff had an office in Mumbai and the defendant No.1 was located in Hyderabad and therefore, under Section 20 CPC, leave of this court to file the suit here could not have even been sought.

3. Relying on the judgment of a Coordinate Bench of this Court in Escorts Limited v. Tejpal Singh Sisodia, 2019 SCC OnLine Del 7607, it was submitted that online activity