Writ petition seeking direction to Small Cause Court Aligarh to expedite a suit was dismissed. The Court relied on a Division Bench precedent prohibiting such directions as inappropriate under Article 227.
None granted; direction to expedite suit dismissed.
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Court No. - 4
Case :- MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 7166 of 2021
Petitioner :- Smt.Amrita Devi And Another Respondent :- Majeed Khan Counsel for Petitioner :- Pankaj Kumar,Ram Sheel Sharma
Hon'ble Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.
This writ petition has been filed with the following prayer:-
"(i) issue an order or direction direct the learned Court of Judge Small Causes Court, Aligarh to conclude the Small Cause Court Suit No. 51 of 2018 (Smt. Amrita Devi Versus Majed Khan) pending before the Court of Judge Small Cause Court, Aligarh, expeditiously within stipulated period as fixed by this Hon'ble Court."
From the perusal of the record, it transpires that the prayer has been made for early disposal of Small Cause Court Suit No. 51 of 2018 (Smt. Amrita Devi Versus Majed Khan) pending in the court of Judge Small Cause Court, Aligarh.
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 :- 6.12.2021 V.S.Singh
2 issues framed by the court
Whether this Court can issue a direction to a subordinate civil court to expeditiously conclude a pending suit within a stipulated period.
Whether a writ petition under Article 227 can be entertained merely for the purpose of expediting the hearing of a civil suit.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Ali Shad Usmani vs. Ali IstebaFollowed¶8
Ali Shad Usmani vs. Ali Isteba, 2015 (2) ADJ 250 (DB)
Smt. Amrita Devi And Another
Majeed Khan
Rohit Ranjan Agarwal
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
