Legal Reference Library

Order 7 Rule 11 of Code of Civil Procedure Rejection of plaint.- The plaint shall be rejected in the following cases:— (a) where it does not disclose a cause of action; (b) where the relief claimed is undervalued, and the plaintiff, on being required by the court to correct the valuation within a time to be fixed by the court, fails to do so; (c) where the relief claimed is properly valued, but the plaint is written upon paper insufficiently stamped, and the plaintiff, on being required by the court to supply the requisite stamp paper within a time to be fixed by the Court, fails to do so; (d) where the suit appears from the statement in the plaint to be barred by any law; (e) where it is not filed in duplicate; (f) where the plaintiff fails comply with the provision of Rule 9. The Supreme Court, in Kuldeep Singh Pathania vs. Bikram Singh Jarya, has held that for an enquiry under Order VII Rule 11 (a) of Code of Civil Procedure, only the pleadings of the plaintiff can b...

In The trial of a suit commences with the framing of issues. The trial of the suit commences at the stage of the first witness of the plaintiff adducing evidence and concludes with the argument of the parties. In the case of Samar Singh v. Kedar Nath & Ors. reported in AIR 1987 SC 1926 the Supreme Court held that Order VII Rule 11 of the Code does not ,either expressly or by necessary implication, provide that the power under the said provision should be exercised at a particular stage only and in the absence of any restriction placed by the statutory provision, it is open to the Court to exercise that power at any stage. Even in the subsequent decision in the case of Saleem Bhai and Ors. (supra) relied upon by the defendant petitioner the Supreme Court held that the trial Court can exercise power under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code, at any stage of the suit and at any time before the conclusion of the trial.

Application for Rejection of Plaint under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure can be filed at any stage and the Court has to dispose of the same before proceeding with the trial, the Apex Court has reiterated in R. K. ROJA VS. U. S. RAYUDU AND ANOTHER. The High Court, in this case, had taken the view that the same “was not filed at the earliest opportunity” and that appellant was not diligent in prosecuting the application. Therefore, the court took the view that … “this application filed by the first respondent shall be decided at the time of final hearing …” The Bench comprising of Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman observed “We are afraid that the stand taken by the High Court in the impugned order cannot be appreciated. An application under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC can be filed at any stage, as held by this Court in Sopan Sukhdeo Sable and others v. Assistant Charity Commissioner and others … “The trial court can exercise the power at any stage of the suit – be...