SupremeToday Landscape Ad
Back
Next
Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation
Listen Audio Icon Pause Audio Icon
judgment-img

2022 Supreme(Jhk) 1051

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
Gautam Kumar Choudhary, J.
Kartik Singh Munda - Petitioner
Versus
Lakhimani Devi and ors. – Opposite Parties
C. M. P. No. 39 of 2022
Decided On : 15-12-2022

Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioner:M/s M.N. Sinha & D.K. Prasad, Advocates
For the Opposite Party :Mr. Birendra Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Aishwarya Prakash, AC to SC (Mines)-I

Headnote:

Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 227 – Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 - Order XLI Rule 27, (aa) & (b), Order 9 Rule 8, 9, Section 151 - Production of certified copy of plaint - Additional evidence - Petition filed whereby appellate court has dismissed petition for production of certified copy of plaint and order sheet of one earlier suit earlier filed by respondent no. 1 against petitioner - Whether document in question can be admitted as additional evidence at appellate stage in view of provision of law as set out under O41 R 27 – Held, General principle is that appellate court should not travel outside record of lower court and cannot take any evidence in appeal - However, as an exception, Order 41 Rule 27 CPC enables appellate court to take additional evidence in exceptional circumstances - Learned court below has dismissed petition for adducing said document as additional evidence for reason that it is an admitted position that earlier suit being T.S. was dismissed for default - Trial court had framed specific issue no.9, whether suit was hopelessly barred by principle of res judicata - This issue was decided against defendant - It was for this reason that learned appellate court rejected petition for additional evidence - From above it is manifest that petitioner had not exercised due diligence to bring it on record said document at stage of trial and further said document had no direct bearing on instant case - It was for these reasons that petition had been rejected - Petition dismissed.

ORDER :

1. The instant civil misc. petition has been filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India for quashing the order dated 13.03.2020 passed by learned AJC-XV, Ranchi in Civil Appeal No. 103 of 2018 arising out of judgment dated 30.07.2018 and decree dated 14.08.2018 passed in Title Suit No. 90 of 2014 whereby and where under, the appellate court has dismissed the petition filed by the petitioner under Order XLI Rule 27(aa) & (b) read with Section 151 of C.P.C. for production of certified copy of plaint and order sheet of one earlier suit earlier filed by respondent no. 1 against the petitioner.

2. The petitioner Kartik Singh Munda is the defendant no.1in earlier Title Suit No. 90 of 2014 filed by Plaintiff Lakhimani Devi (OP no.1) for cancellation of adoption deed which was decreed in favour of the plaintiff. Against the dismissal of the suit, the petitioner preferred Civil Appeal No. 103 of 2018 in which the petition for adducing additional evidence was filed which has been rejected against which the present petition has been filed.

3. The petitioner sought to adduce into evidence the certified copy of the plaint of earlier Title Suit No. 104 of 2012 filed by the plaintiff-opposite party no. 1 for the same cause of action was dismissed for non-prosecution and had attained finality. These facts had been specifically pleaded in para-21 of the written statement. It was for this reason that the petitioner/appellant filed the petition under Order XLI Rule 27 C.P.C. for adducing into evidence the plaint of the earlier suit filed by the plaintiff which has been rejected. Further, the earlier plaint was also required to bring inconsistency and contradiction in the averment made in both the suits ie TS104/12 and TS 90/12. Reliance has been placed on Jayaramdas & Sons v. Mirza Rafatullah Baig, (2004) 10 SCC 507 :

    9. As already pointed out, both the sets of documents are certified copies of public documents. The appellants would not ordinarily suspect or doubt the documents where the certified copies of public documents were secured from the public officer having the custody of such public documents. It is only when it came to their knowledge that the certified copies were at variance with the originals or were not complete copies that they thought of securing another set of certified copies and then seeking leave of the court for producing the certified copies obtained by them as an additional evidence in the appellate court. The case of the appellants for production of additional evidence falls within clause (aa) of sub-rule (1), abovesaid.

4. Learned counsel for opposite party no. 1 submits that earlier the suit was dismissed for default and the present case is not maintainable and will be hit by res-judicata. Reliance has been placed on State of U.P. v. Jagdish Sharan Agrawal, (2009) 1 SCC 689 which involved a case where the suit had been dismissed not on merit but on technical ground. So far the suit where the State was a party and amendments were made, the same was dismissed for non-prosecution. But the same was not dismissed under Order 9 Rule 8. Order 9 Rule 8 and Order 9 Rule 9 CPC read as follows:

    “8. Procedure where defendant only appears.—Where the defendant appears and the plaintiff does not appear when the suit is called on for hearing, the court shall make an order that the suit be dismissed, unless the defendant admits the claim, or part thereof, in which case the court shall pass a decree against the defendant upon such admission, and, where part only of the claim has been admitted, shall dismiss the suit so far as it relates to the remainder.

9. Decree against plaintiff by default bars fresh suit.—(1) Where a suit is wholly or partly dismissed under Rule 8, the plaintiff shall be precluded from bringing a fresh suit in respect of the same cause of action. But he may apply for an order to set the dismissal aside, and if he satisfies the court that there was sufficient cause for his non-appearance when the suit wa

    Click Here to Read the rest of this document
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    11
    SupremeToday Portrait Ad
    supreme today icon
    logo-black

    An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers

    Please visit our Training & Support
    Center or Contact Us for assistance

    qr

    Scan Me!

    India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!

    For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :

    whatsapp-icon Back to top