Filing of second suit for same cause of action barred.

Srinivasan, J.

1. This civil miscellaneous appeal is taken up with the consent of parties. It is directed against an order of injunction passed by the Subordinate Judge, Kancheepuram in I.A. No. 1406 of 1990 in O.S. No. 309 of 1990. The order is to the effect that the appellant herein shall hold election to the Board of management of the Society only with the list of Members of the Society prepared on 20.10.1990 and that no member whose name is not found in the said list is entitled to participate in the election.

2. It is necessary to set out a few facts prior to the filing of the present suit in order to show that the present suit is an abuse of process of Court.

3. The appellant was appointed as Special Officer of the Society on 24.4.1989 under Section 89 of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983, hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'. The State Government passed an Ordinance, which was Ordinance 4 of 1989 entitled as Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies (Appointment of Special Officers) Ordinance. Under Clause 3 of the Ordinance the term of any committee or the board of management, President, Vice-President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of every primary society came to an end automatically on the appointed day, viz., 1.7.1989 and such members shall vacate their office on or before the said date. Under Clause 4 the Government was empowered to appoint a person as Special Officer to manage the affairs of any primary society referred to in Section 3. The Ordinance was substituted by Tamil Nadu Act 38 of 1989. The language of Sections 3 and 4 of the Act was the same as the language of Clauses 3 and 4 of the Ordinance. The term of the appellant as Special Officer was extended upto 31.10.1989 by Notification Rc. No. 40933/89/G2(1), dated 4.7.1989. That was issued under Section 4(1)(a) of the Ordinance. Another notification was issued on 28.2.1990 in Rc. No. 44280/G1-1 extending the period upto 31.12.1990. That was issued under Section 4 of Act 38 of 1989. The Special Officer by virtue of his office as such and exercise of his powers under Section 88 of the act admitted members to the Society. According to the Special Officer as many as 427 members were admitted between 31.8.1989 and 18.9.1989.

4. One of the members of the society filed a suit O.S. No. 165 of 1989 on the file of the Subordinate Judge's Court, Kancheepuram, on 19.9.1989. He claimed that he was representing all the members of the society. He filed an application under Order 1, Rule 8 Civil Procedure Code. The prayer in the suit was for a declaration that the defendants [herein were not entitled to induct or eject any person into or from membership of the society till the duly elected Board took charge. The defendants in the suit were the society represented by its Special Officer and the society represented by its Election Officer. That suit was decreed by the trial Court on 4.5.1990. On appeal the decree of the trial Court was reversed. There was a second appeal in this Court in, S.A. No. l511 of 1990. Pending the second appeal an application was made for injunction restraining the respondents therein from ii ducting any person as member of the society and for maintaining the status quo as on 31.8.1989 as decreed in the suit, O.S. No. 165 of 1989. Though interim injunction was granted by this Court at the same of admission of the appeal the same was vacated by me on 24.10.1990.1 passed the following order:

There is no justification for continuing the injunction in this matter. The Special Officer is certainly entitled to carry out the functions of the Board in the absence of the Board. It is stated that the Special Officer has fixed up election of the committee for 31.10.1990. Election shall go on. Interim injunction is vacated. Petition is dismissed.

Even before the ink in my order could become dry another member of the society filed the present suit in Subordinate Judge's Court, Kancheepuram on 25.10.1990 which has been numbered as O.S. No