Rejection of Plaint -- Suit for Mandatory and Permanent Injunction Based on Memorandum of Agreement -- Averments disclose cause of action, summary rejection set aside
(i) Civil Procedure Code, 1908, O.7 R.11 -- Rejection of Plaint -- Object and Scope of Enquiry -- The object underlying Order 7 Rule 11 CPC is to ensure that frivolous litigation or a suit bound to fail does not occupy judicial time. The court must examine averments in the plaint along with documents relied upon, pleas in the written statement being wholly irrelevant, and must reject the plaint if any ground under clauses (a) to (e) is made out. Whether the plaint discloses a cause of action is a question of fact determined on a holistic reading, without isolating a sentence out of context, and exercise of this power is mandatory to ascertain whether the cause of action is real or illusory. (ii) Civil Procedure Code, 1908, O.7 R.11 -- Rejection of Plaint -- Stage of Exercise -- The power under Order 7 Rule 11 CPC may be exercised at any stage of the suit. (iii) Civil Procedure Code, 1908, O.7 R.11 -- Rejection of Plaint -- No Enquiry Into Correctness of Averments -- Where averments made in the plaint prima facie disclose a cause of action, the court cannot embark upon an enquiry into whether such averments are correct. (iv) Civil Procedure Code, 1908, O.7 R.11 -- Rejection of Plaint -- Undervaluation or Deficit Court Fee -- Rejection of plaint on the ground of undervaluation or deficient court fee is not automatic, and is conditional upon non-compliance with the opportunity granted by the court to cure the defect. (v) Civil Procedure Code, 1908, O.7 R.11 -- Rejection of Plaint -- Suit for Mandatory and Permanent Injunction Based on Memorandum of Agreement -- Where averments in the plaint, taken together, constitute a complete and intelligible cause of action warranting adjudication in a full-fledged trial, summary rejection is unwarranted. Questions as to whether a memorandum of agreement constitutes a concluded contract, or is unenforceable for want of signatures, fall within the domain of trial, and any finding on such questions at the threshold amounts to premature adjudication beyond the limited scope of Order 7 Rule 11 CPC.
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