High Court of Judicature at Madras
R.S. RAMANATHAN, J.
Royal Villa Residents Association, represented by its President
Versus
The Project Management Committee, Kotturpuram Officers Co-operative Housing Society, represented by its authorised persons & Others
CRP.(PD).No. 3160 of 2012 & M.P.No. 1 of 2012
Decided on : 02-04-2013
Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code - Suit Maintainability - The court held that the suit filed by the respondents representing a registered body under the Societies Registration Act can proceed without complying with the provisions of Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code, and the issue of compliance can be decided during trial by framing necessary issues.
Fact of the Case:
The respondents filed a suit for injunction without complying with Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code. The petitioner argued that the suit is not maintainable without such compliance.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the suit cannot be struck down at this stage for non-compliance with Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code. It held that the issue of compliance can be decided during trial by framing necessary issues.
Issues: The main issue was whether the suit filed by the respondents was maintainable without complying with Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the suit can proceed without complying with Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code as the respondents were representing a registered body under the Societies Registration Act, and the issue of compliance can be decided during trial.
Final Decision: The revision petition was dismissed, and the court held that the suit can proceed without complying with the provisions of Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code.
This Civil Revision Petition is filed to strike out the plaint in O.S.No.4636 of 2012, on the file of the II Assistant City Civil Court, Chennai.
2. The respondents filed the above suit for injunction and the revision Petitioner, who is the defendant in the suit filed this revision petition stating that the suit filed by the respondents without resorting to order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code is not maintainable.
3. It is submitted by the learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioner Mr.M.S.Krishnan that the respondents is not a registered Association and even according to the Plaintiffs allegation, the Officers Co-operative Housing Society is a registered Association and the respondents is only a committee of that Association and therefore, any suit filed by the respondents has to comply with the provisions under Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code as the respondents is representing various persons and therefore, the suit filed without complying with the provisions under Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code is not maintainable. He relied upon the judgment in the case of Maruthamuthu.vs. 1. Ponni Sugars(Erode) Limited, Ottapalli, Thiruchengode Taluk, Namakkal District and others reported in 2011(6) CTC 832, (2005) 2 MLJ 526 (Formation of Indian Network Marketing Association, represented by its President Mr.P.J.Karthikeyan, Chennai vs. M/s.Apple F.M.C.G Marketing Private Limited, represented by its Chief Executive Officer Mr.R.Eric, Chennai and others and AIR 1978 Madras 383 in the matter of S.Nesamony Nadar .vs. Nidalam Government High School, Improvement Committee in support of his contention.
4. On the other hand, Mr.G.RM.Palaniappan, learned counsel submitted that there is no need to comply with the order 8 Rule 1 of Civil Procedure Code and the respondents/Plaintiffs is a constituent of Officers Co-operative Society which is a registered Association and both of them are represented by the same persons and therefore the suit has been validly instituted by the authorised persons. He further submitted that even assuming that Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code has not been followed, the suit cannot be struck down on that ground, as it is always open to the Plaintiffs to file necessary application seeking permission of the Court to file a suit in the representative capacity and relied upon the judgement reported in 1996-2-L.W.456 in the matter of Nilgiri District Janata Party, represented by its Secretary, Thiru. N.Chickiah, Kamaraj Bhavan, Lower Bazaar Road, Uthagamandalam vs. A.Rahim and 3 others. He also relied upon the judgement reported in AIR 2011 Supreme Court 952 in the matter of Hari Ram vs. Jyothi Prasad and another, wherein, the Honourable Supreme Court held that when an aggrieved person filed a suit, the suit cannot be dismissed on the ground of non-compliance of Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code even though some other persons were also interested along with the person who filed the suit. He also relied upon the judgement reported in 2011-2-L.W.790 in the matter of S.Vetrivel and another .vs. Tamil Nadu Advocates Association, represented by its Secretary A.Baskar and two others, wherein, the Honourable Division Bench of this Court held that when the defendants acquiesced in the jurisdiction of the Court did not raise any objection in the Written Statement that the provisions under Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code was not complied with the rules, it can be presumed that the defendants have waived their right to take the plea that the suit was bad for non-compliance of Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code.
5. According to me, without going into the merits of the contentions raised by both the parties, at this stage, the suit cannot be struck down on the ground of non-compliance of Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code. To attract the provisions of Order 1 Rule 8 of Civil Procedure Code, the suit must have been filed in the representative capacity and admittedly, the suit was filed b
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