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2008 Supreme(All) 2517

[2008 (10) ADJ 652]
ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT
BEFORE : TARUN AGARWALA, J.
AJAY SWAROOP MEHROTRA ............Petitioner
Versus
D.N. RAINA (DECEASED) AND OTHERS ..........Respondents
(Civil Misc.Writ Petition No. 51003 of 2008, decided on 20th November, 2008)

Advocates:
Counsel :
B.D. Mandhyan, Satish Mandhyan and Udai Chandani for the Petitioner; Shashi Nandan and Arvind Srivastava for the Respondents.

Headnote:Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order VII, Rule 11 and Order VII, Rule 14—Evidence Act, 1872—Section 45—Expert evidence—Validity of sale-deed, executed by defendants 2, 3 in favour of defendants 4, 5 challenged by plaintiff on variety of grounds—But, not challenged it on ground that power of attorney, executed by defendant-1 in favour of defendants 2, 3, was a forged and fictitious document—That ground was specifically raised after power of attorney was filed by defendants in February, 2008 through an amendment application, which was allowed by trial Court in July, 2008—Also an application for expert evidence was filed within 10 days of amendment application, was allowed—Hence, no delay on part of plaintiff in moving said application—Question whether said application was bona fide, or not, and ought to have been allowed, or not by Court below—Held, failure to allow plaintiff to bring on record expert opinion, would only affect quality of his evidence—Which, still, to be led by parties—Trial Court directed to take on record expert opinion, to be filed by plaintiff. [Paras 5, 6, 11 to 17]

       

JUDGMENT

Hon’ble Tarun Agarwala, J.—The petitioner is the plaintiff and has filed the suit for a declaration, praying that the sale deed dated 18.5.91 executed by the defendant No. 1, through Power of Attorney holders defendant Nos. 2 and 3, in favour of defendant Nos. 4 and 5 is illegal and a void document. The facts, as culled out from the writ petition in brief is, that the suit was filed in the year 1991 and, all these years, the suit could not proceed as it was bogged down in a controversy as to whether the suit was maintainable or not. It has come on record that the trial Court allowed the application under Order 7 Rule 11 of the C.P.C. which was set aside in the appeal, and thereafter, the matter came to the High Court where it was affirmed, and consequently, after all this exercise, the suit has now proceeded. At the present moment, the stage is set for the leading of the evidence by the parties and, in this scenario, the defendants filed a certified copy of the power of attorney executed by defendant No. 1 in favour of the defendant Nos. 2 and 3, on 16.2.2008. It is relevant to state here that the plaintiff had alleged several grounds in the plaint for declaring the sale deed to be a void and an illegal document but had not challenged it on the ground that the power of attorney was a forged or a fictitious document. But when the power of attorney was actually filed in the Court and the same was examined by the plaintiff, at that stage, an applicalion for amendment of the plaint, was filed to incorporate paragraph 5 (I) after para 5(H) in the plaint to the effect that the power of attorney executed by the defendant No. 1, was a forged and a fraudulent document and fabricated by the defendant Nos. 2 to 5 and that the defendant No. 1 had not executed any power of attorney nor had signed the said document. This application, after contest, was allowed by the trial Court, by an order dated 14.7.2008 and necessary amendment has been incorporated in the plaint. The said order, for the time being, has become final inter se between the parties. The paragraph, which has been incorporated in the plaint reads as under :

"That the alleged general power of attorney dated 18.4.1991 alleged to be executed by late Dina Nath Raina is false, farzi and fraudulent document and fabricated by the defendant Nos. 2 to 5 to grab the property in suit. Late Dina Nath Raina did not reside at 15/1 Balbir Road, Dehradun, and has not signed and executed any such Power of Attorney so the sale deed dated 10.5.1991 becomes fraudulent and illegal document. Fraud has been played by the defendant Nos. 2 to 5, so much, so that the Vakalatnama, written statement and Counter Affidavit, notice dated 1.7.1992 filed in the name of late Dina Nath Raina has not been signed and filed by late Dina Nath Raina and the defendant Nos. 2 to 5 are liable to be punished and prosecuted for perjury under Section 340, Cr.P.C.”

2. Based on the aforesaid amendment, the plaintiff moved an application dated 23.7.2008, i.e., within 10 days, praying that he may be permitted to produce an expert evidence. The plaintiff contended that the power of attorney had not been executed by the defendant No. 1 and, that the signatures appended on the said document was forged and that this crucial fact could only be proved by an expert evidence. The plaintiff, therefore, prayed that he may be permitted to get an expert opinion in the matter. This application was opposed by the defendants and the trial Court, after hearing the parties, rejected the application, by an order dated 12.8.2008. The plaintiff, being aggrieved, filed a revision which was also dismissed by an order dated 17.9.2008. The plaintiff has now filed the writ petition for the quashing of these orders and for appropriate direction to the trial Court.

3. Heard Sri B.D. Mandhyan, the learned senior counsel assisted by Sri Udai Chandani, the learned counsel for the petitioner-plaintiff and Sri Shashi Nandan, the learned Senior Counsel



















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