High Court’s Rejection of Order VII, Rule 11 CPC Appeal: Supreme Court’s Perspective

The case of Madhusri Konar and Anr. vs. The New Central Book Agency Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. revolved around an appeal in the Supreme Court of India against a High Court order. The primary issue was whether the trial court should dispose of an application under Order VII, Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) before proceeding further in the case.

The Supreme Court had to decide whether it should intervene in the High Court’s decision or let the trial court continue its proceedings without separately addressing the Order VII, Rule 11 application. The appellants were seeking directions for the trial court to first dispose of this application.

Background of the Case

The appellants, Madhusri Konar and another, were dissatisfied with the High Court of Calcutta’s decision dated May 17, 2016. The High Court had declined their request to issue directions to the trial court regarding the application under Order VII, Rule 11 CPC.

The High Court noted that the appellants had already made a similar attempt before the Supreme Court, which had been declined earlier. Hence, the High Court refused to entertain their request once again.

Legal Arguments

Petitioners’ Arguments

• The appellants argued that their application under Order VII, Rule 11 CPC should be decided before the trial court proceeds further.
• They relied on the Supreme Court’s previous decision in Civil Appeal No. 5540 of 2016, R.K. Roja vs. U.S. Rayudu, which had emphasized the need for disposing of such applications at the trial stage.
• The petitioners insisted that the maintainability of the suit was a crucial issue and should be resolved before proceeding further.

Respondents’ Arguments

• The respondents contended that the High Court had already framed the necessary issues, covering both maintainability and cause of action.
• Since these matters were already part of the trial proceedings, the trial court did not need to frame additional issues or decide the application separately.
• The respondents emphasized that the Supreme Court had earlier rejected a similar attempt, making it inappropriate to reconsider the matter.

Supreme Court’s Judgment

The Supreme Court, comprising Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, delivered the judgment on September 16, 2016. The key observations were as follows:

• The Court acknowledged the persuasive arguments from the petitioners but refused to interfere with the High Court’s order.
• It noted that the High Court had already framed issues covering the maintainability and cause of action.
• Since the objections raised by the appellants in their application under Order VII, Rule 11 CPC were already included in the framed issues, there was no need for a separate decision on the application.
• Thus, the trial court should continue proceedings without separately deciding on the Order VII, Rule 11 CPC application.

Final Decision

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal but directed the trial court to expedite the proceedings. It instructed the City Civil Court, Calcutta, to dispose of Civil Suit No. 1615 of 2013 within three months, if necessary, by conducting hearings on a day-to-day basis.

No costs were imposed on either party.

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Download Judgment: Madhusri Konar and A vs The New Central Book Supreme Court of India Judgment Dated 16-09-2016-1741883924343.pdf