ORDER :

The revision petitioner is the defendant in O.S.No.1358 of 2017 on the files of the Additional Munsiff Court, Ernakulam. The suit is filed by the respondent/plaintiff, seeking to realise a sum of Rs.8,69,836/-from the revision petitioner, along with interest at the rate of 18% per annum from 17.04.2016 onwards. The averments in the suit are to the following effect;

In 2016, the defendant expressed interest in hiring one Crawler Mounted Crane having capacity of 165 MT from the plaintiff for engaging in their project site in Chattisgarh. After negotiations, the defendant issued a purchase order dated 11.03.2016 containing the commercial terms and conditions for hiring the Crawler Mounted Crane. The purchase order was accepted by the plaintiff with certain modifications and the crane was given on hire. Thereafter, the defendant failed and neglected to pay the hire charges, even after issuance of repeated demand notices.

2. On receipt of notice in the suit, the revision petitioner entered appearance and filed I.A.No.3160 of 2018, praying to return the plaint for presentation before the court in which the suit should have been instituted. It was contended by the revision petitioner