The High Court of Madras dismissed an appeal against the rejection of an interim application seeking to have a plaint rejected under Order 7 Rule 11 CPC. The court held that evidence showed the society was not definitively defunct, making the rejection unavailable on facts, reserving questions of suppression for the suit.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
.IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 25.06.2018
Coram
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice M.M.SUNDRESH
and The Hon'ble Mr. Justice N.ANAND VENKATESH
O.S.A.No.154 of 2018
1.Arti Meenakshi Muthiah
2.Tarun Ghai 3.Supriya Ananth Reddy 4.Sir. M.Ct.Muthiah Chettiar Higher Secondary School Trust rep. by its President .. Appellant No.23, Raja Annamalai Road, Purasawakkam, Chennai-84
Vs
Sir.M.Ct.M.Centenary School Society Regd. as No.283 of 1992 rep. by its Secretary Nandhini Valli Muthiah .. Respondent No.63, Ormes Road, Kilpauk, Chennai-10
Appeal preferred under Order XXXVI Rule 9 of O.S. Rules r/w Clause 15 of Letters Patent against the order dated 04.10.2017 made in Application No.2916 of 2017 in C.S.No.297 of 2017.
Prayer in Appln.NO.2916 of 2017 in CS.297/17: Praying to reject the vexatious suit in C.S.No.297 of 2017 filed by the respondent/Plaintiff, a defunct society, by committing fraud on this Honourable court.
Prayer in C.S.NO.297 of 2017: Praying the pass a Judgment and decree granting permanent injunction restraining defendants from interfering with the management of the Sri. M.Ct.Muthiah memorial Matriculation High Secondary School of the Plaintiff Society
b) to ward the cost of the suit and
c) to pass such further and other orders as this Hon'ble court may deem fit and proper and in the fact and circumstances of this case
For Appellant .. Mr.Najeeb Usman Khan For Respondent .. Ms.Abitha Banu
JUDGMENT
(Judgment of the Court was delivered by M.M.SUNDRESH, J.)
This appeal is directed against the order dated 04.10.2017 made in Application No.2916 of 2017 in C.S.No.297 of 2017.
2.The appellants are the defendants in the suit. The suit has been filed for permanent injunction among other reliefs. An application was filed by the appellants interalia holding that the plaint will have to be rejected under Order 7 Rule 11 C.P.C. as the respondent/plaintiff has since become defunct under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 (for short 'the Act').
3.The learned single Judge rejected the said contention by holding that a gazette publication under Section 44 (3) of the Act cannot be a prelude to the final one under Section 44(4) of the Act and the same is not a document evidencing the declaration of the Society as defunct. Incidentally, the learned single Judge took note of the fact that the respondent/plaintiff has taken steps to file the accounts, though belatedly, which is still pending consideration with the authorities concerned.
4.Learned counsel appearing for the appellant made reliance on the reply given under the Right To Information Act. It is submitted that inasmuch as the statement of accounts having not been submitted and there is a stand taken as seen from the counter affidavit filed by the Authorities, in W.P. No.24048 of 2017 qua the administration of the school, the appeal will have to be allowed.
5.We find no merit in this appeal. The requirement of Order 7 Rule 11 C.P.C. is certainly not available in the case on hand. Admittedly, the records produced by the appellants do not indicate that the respondent/plaintiff society has become defunct. Further more, the issue is still pending consideration with the authorities concerned. Thus, the ground on which the plaint was sought to be rejected is not available on facts. The question of wilful suppression, if any and the consequence flowing from it will have to be decided in the suit. Hence the appeal stands dismissed. No costs.
6.However, it is made clear that the observations of the learned single Judge in the application and the observations made by us in this appeal are intended only for the purpose of deciding the application and the appeal respectively.
Sd/-
Assistant Registrar(CS-VII)
//True Copy//
Sub Assistant Registrar
mmi
To
The Sub Assistant Registrar,
Original Side, High Court, Madras.
+ 1 cc to M/s. Abitha Banu, Advocate Sr.39879
+ 1 cc to M/s. Najeeb Usman Khan, Advocate Sr.40447
O.S.A.No.154 of 2018
NRI(CO)
EU(12/07/2018 )
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the plaint can be rejected under Order 7 Rule 11 C.P.C. though the plaintiff society appears to be defunct.
Whether a gazette publication under Section 44(3) of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 constitutes a document evidencing the declaration of the Society as defunct.
If the society is defunct, whether the issue of fraud should be decided in the suit rather than through an application to reject the plaint.
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Arti Meenakshi Muthiah
Tarun Ghai
Supriya Ananth Reddy
Sir. M.Ct.Muthiah Chettiar Higher Secondary School Trust
Sir.M.Ct.M.Centenary School Society
M.M.SUNDRESH
N.ANAND VENKATESH
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
