Single judge declined to direct the learned Additional Civil Judge to decide a pending suit expeditiously within three months, relying on a Division Bench precedent holding that such directions under Article 227 are inappropriate as they place petitioners in a preferential category.
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Court No. - 1
Case :- MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 2916 of 2021
Petitioner :- Sushma Matroja And Another Respondent :- Children Paradise Academy School And Another
Counsel for Petitioner :- Nipun Singh,Sumit Suri
Hon'ble Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.
Heard Sri Sumit Suri, learned counsel for the petitioners.
This writ petition has been filed with the following prayer:-
" i. Direct the learned Additional Civil Judge (Junior Division), Court No. 1, Muzaffarnagar to decide the Original Suit No. 29 of 2007 (Children Paradize and another vs. Smt. Sushma Matroja and another), expeditiously, within a time bound period as may be directed by this Hon'ble Court preferably within a period of three months."
From the perusal of the record, it transpires that the prayer has been made for early disposal of Suit No. 29 of 2007 pending in the court of Civil Judge (Junior Judge), Muzaffarnagar.
The Division Bench of this Court in case of Ali Shad Usmani vs. Ali Isteba, 2015 (2) ADJ 250 (DB) has held that no direction can be issued to the sub-ordinate courts for deciding the suit within stipulated period. Relevant portion of the judgment is extracted hereasunder:-
"We are not inclined to issue a direction for the expeditious hearing of a Civil Suit which is pending before the Civil Judge (Junior Division), District-Azamgarh. It would be most inappropriate to Court to entertain a writ petition under Article 226 and/or under Article 227 of the Constitution simply for the purpose of expediting the hearing of a suit. Such orders, if granted, place a class of litigants, who move the court in a separate and preferential category whereas other cases which may be of similar or greater antiquity
and urgency are left to be decided in the normal channel. Hence, any such direction may be issued with the greatest care and circumspection by the High Court otherwise the Civil Courts will be overburdened only with requests for expeditious disposal of suits, which have been expedited by the High Court. Most of the litigants cannot afford the expense of moving the High court and would not, therefore, be in a position to have the benefit of such an order.
Ultimately, it must be left to the judicious exercise of discretion of the concerned Court to determine whether a ground for urgency has been made out. We emphasize that there may be other cases such as involving senior citizens, those who are differently abled or people suffering from a particular disablilty socio-economic or otherwise which may prime cause of urgent disposal. It is for the learned Trial Judge in each case to apply his or her mind and decide whether the hearing of the suit to be expedited.
For these reasons, we are not inclined to entertain the petition. The petition is, accordingly, dismissed. There shall be no order as to cost."
In view of the Division Bench judgment of this Court in the case of Ali Shad Usmani (supra), this Court declines to grant the relief as prayed for.
The writ petitions is dismissed.
Order Date :- 8.7.2021 V.S.Singh
1 issue framed by the court
Whether a direction can be issued to a subordinate civil court deciding a suit within a stipulated period under Article 227 of the Constitution.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Ali Shad Usmani vs. Ali IstebaExplained¶10
Ali Shad Usmani vs. Ali Isteba, 2015 (2) ADJ 250 (DB)
Sushma Matroja
Children Paradise Academy School
Rohit Ranjan Agarwal
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
