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

1957 Supreme(All) 167

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Desai and Takru, JJ.
KUNDAN LAL - Appellant
Versus
NARAIN LAL - Respondents
Civil Revn. 1086 Of 1951
Decided On : 07/17/1957

Advocates Appeared:
Brij Lal Gupta, Jagnandan Swarup Gupta

Headnote:

CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE, 1908 - ORDER 6 RULE 17 - AMENDMENT OF PLAINT - JURISDICTION - COURT HAS JURISDICTION TO ALLOW AMENDMENT OF PLAINT EVEN IF IT HAS NO JURISDICTION TO TRY THE SUIT.

Fact of the Case:

The plaintiff filed a suit for possession of a house. The defendant took possession of the house and demolished it, constructing a new house in its place. The plaintiff applied to amend the plaint to clarify that he sought possession of his old house and not the new house constructed by the defendant. The defendant opposed the amendment, arguing that the value of the new house was more than Rs. 5000/- and that the suit was therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the lower court.

Finding of the Court:

The court held that the amendment did not seek to reduce the subject-matter of the suit, but only to clarify the relief sought. It also held that the court had jurisdiction to allow the amendment even if it had no jurisdiction to try the suit, as it had the power to pass certain orders even though it lacked jurisdiction to try the suit.

Issues: Whether the court had jurisdiction to allow the amendment of the plaint, given that the value of the new house was more than Rs. 5000/- and the suit was therefore beyond the pecuniary jurisdiction of the court.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the amendment did not seek to reduce the subject-matter of the suit, but only to clarify the relief sought. It also held that the court had jurisdiction to allow the amendment even if it had no jurisdiction to try the suit, as it had the power to pass certain orders even though it lacked jurisdiction to try the suit.

Final Decision: The court dismissed the defendant's revision application and allowed the amendment of the plaint.

DESAI, J.

( 1 ) THE applicant, who was the defendant in the Court below, challenged through this revision application an order of the Court below allowing the opposite party, plaintiff to amend his plaint. The suit was for possession over a house. It seems that the applicant took possession of the house and after demolishing it constructed a new house in its place; but this fact was not mentioned in the plaint and the relief claimed was just for possession of the opposite partys house. The opposite party applied for amendment of the plaint in order to make it clear that he sought possession over his old house and not over the new house constructed on its site by the applicant. The application for amendment was opposed by the applicant, who pleaded that the value of the house constructed by him was more than Rs. 5000/-, that consequently the suit was not within the jurisdiction of the lower Court and that it had no jurisdiction to pass any order including one allowing the amendment. The lower Court held that through the amendment the opposite party was only clarifying the relief that he wanted and that it could allow the clarification regardless of the question of jurisdiction. Accordingly it allowed the amendment.

( 2 ) THROUGH the amendment, the opposite party has only clarified what he meant in the plaint; he did not want any reduction in the subject-matter covered by the plaint. When he wanted only to explain what he meant in the plaint, there could not arise any question of jurisdiction to allow the amendment. If the opposite party did not originally seek possession over the house constructed by the applicant at the cost of more than Rs. 5,000/-, the suit was not beyond the jurisdiction of the lower Court. If the only effect of the amendment is that the opposite party makes this clear, there was nothing to bar the amendment being allowed. It is not that the opposite party originally claimed possession over the house constructed by the applicant and now through the amendment sought a different relief of less valuation.

( 3 ) EVEN if the opposite party had in this original plaint sought possession over the house constructed by the applicant and consequently the suit had been beyond the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Court below, we hold that the Court below had jurisdiction to allow the amendment in order to reduce the valuation of the suit so as to bring it within its pecuniary jurisdiction. The powers of a Court to allow amendment are very wide. It cannot be doubted that a Court has jurisdiction to pass certain orders even though it has no jurisdiction to try the suit; it has power to find that it is beyond its jurisdiction, it has power to order the plaint to be amended so as to enhance the valuation and it has power to return the plaint for presentation to a competent Court. When a Court has jurisdiction to pass certain orders, even though it has no jurisdiction to try the suit, there is no justification for saying that it cannot allow an amendment, if it has no jurisdiction to try the suit.

( 4 ) THE only authority cited before us by Sri Brij Lal Gupta is Tirkha v. Ghasi Ram, AIR 1935 All 842 (A ). The facts in that case were that a suit was filed for recovery ot a sum of Rs. 553 and odd which was beyond the pecuniary juiisdiction of the Small Cause Court in which it was filed, that when the want of jurisdiction was brought to the notice of the plaintiff, he applied for amendment by reducing the claim to Rs. 500/- and Kendall J. held that the Small Cause Court had no jurisdiction to allow the amendment. As we pointed out earlier the facts in the case before us are materially different and the opposite party did not seek to reduce the value of the subject-matter of the suit but he simply clarified its nature. Even otherwise with great respect to the learned Judge we are unable to agree that a court has no jurisdiction to -allow amendment of a plaint if it has no jurisdiction to try the suit. The facts before us are simila







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