Defendants in a partition suit appealed against dismissal of their application to strike off plaint pleadings under Order VI Rule 16 CPC. The appeal was dismissed with liberty to the appellants to raise all objections at trial, and the trial court was requested to expedite disposal of the pending suit.
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O.S.A. No.158 of 2023
THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 19.08.2024
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.S.SUNDAR
AND
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K.RAJASEKAR
O.S.A.No.158 of 2023 and
C.M.P.No.19829 of 2023
2.Narayanan
9.A.Baskar 10.D.Lokesh 11.K.Prakash .. Appellants
vs.
1.Prabhu Ramakrishnan 2.P.Vishal 3.Shyam Kumar Shrivastava (Died)
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Sanjay Kumar Shrivastava (Deceased)
5.Anita Shrivastava
8.Keerthi Shrivastava
13.A.K.Nageswara Rao
14.Meeta Shrivastava
15.Harsh Shrivastava
16.Harshita Shrivastava
[Respondents 14 to 16 brought on record as legal heirs of the deceased 3rd respondent vide order of Court dated 07.08.2024 made in CMP.Nos.9427, 9433, 9437 of 2024]
.. Respondents
Memorandum of Grounds of Original Side Appeal under Order XXXVI, Rule 11 of the Original Side Rules read with Rule 15 of the Letters Patent, against the Judgment and Decree passed in Application No.2792/2020 in C.S.No.321 of 2019 dated 21.03.2022 on the file of this
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Court.
For Appellants :: Mr.A.Palaniappan For Respondents :: Mr.S.Pugalenthi for R1 and R2 R3 – No such person Mrs.R.Anitha, Special Government Pleader for R12 Mr.Shanmugam.SA for R4 to 11, 14 to 16
J U D G M E N T
(Judgment of the Court was made by S.S.SUNDAR,J.)
This original side appeal is directed against the order dated
21.03.2022 made in A.No.2792 of 2020 in C.S.No.321 of 2019.
2. The appellants herein are the defendants 11 to 21 in the suit in C.S.No.321 of 2019. The respondents 1 and 2 herein, filed the suit in C.S.No.321 of 2019 for partition and separate possession of the 1st plaintiff's 19/24th share in the item Nos.1 and 2 of the suit schedule properties, for partition to allot 1/24th share in favour of the 2nd plaintiff in respect of item Nos.1 and 2 of the suit schedule properties and for a declaration that the sale deeds executed by other sharers in favour of other defendants are null and void.
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3. The suit was contested by the appellants on various grounds questioning the quantum of share to which the plaintiffs are entitled to. During the pendency of the suit, the appellants filed an application in A.No.2792 of 2020 to strike off specific pleadings found in the plaint in C.S.No.321 of 2019.
4. From the reading of the affidavit filed in support of the application and the prayer, this Court is able to see that the substantial portion of the plaint averments are sought to be struck off. The learned Judge observed that at the time of deciding an application under Order VI Rule 16 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Court has to see only the averments in the plaint and the pleadings cannot be struck off on the basis of the defence that is raised in the written statement. The learned Judge also found that the application is devoid of any bona fides or merits.
5. The learned counsel appearing for the appellants now states that the appeal can be dismissed however with a direction to the Hon'ble trial Judge to dispose of the suit as expeditiously as possible within a time stipulated by this Court and with a liberty reserved to the appellants to raise 4/7
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all their contentions in the suit itself at the time of trial.
6. The learned counsel appearing for the contesting respondents has
no objection for this course.
7. Hence, this appeal is dismissed, however liberty is granted to the
appellants to raise all their objections with regard to maintainability of the plaintiffs' claim or about the quantum of shares during the trial of the suit. Since the suit itself is pending from the year 2019, depending upon the order of seniority and other priorities, the Hon'ble Judge dealing with original side suits is requested to expedite the trial and dispose of the suit as expeditiously as possible. Both the parties have undertaken to cooperate with the trial of the suit. Hence, when the matter is listed for trial, both the parties shall not take any unnecessary adjournments. No costs. Consequently, the connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
(S.S.S.R., J.) (K.R.S., J.)
19.08.2024
dsa
Index : Yes/No
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O.S.A. No.158 of 2023
Neutral Citation : Yes/No
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O.S.A. No.158 of 2023 S.S.SUNDAR, J. and K.RAJASEKAR, J.
dsa
O.S.A.No.158 of 2023
19.08.2024
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1 issue framed by the court
Whether pleadings in a partition suit plaint could be struck off under Order VI Rule 16 CPC.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Sambath Kumar
Narayanan
Pradeep Kumar
Selvdurai
Nirmal
R.Rama Krishnan
S.S.Sundar
K.Rajasekar
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
