Andhra HC (Pre-Telangana)
Mohd. Maqdoom Ali vs District Collector, Mahaboobnagar And ... on 3 December, 1997
Equivalent citations: 1998(1)ALD701, 1998(2)ALT43
ORDER
1. The order of the learned District Munsif, Mahaboobnagar in CFR.No.5495 of 1993 dated 3-11-1997 is challenged. The learned District Munsif instead of registering the suit and issuing summons held that the suit was not maintainable for mandatory injunction. The order which is short reads as follows:
"The suit in the present form is not maintainable since the plaintiff could not exhaust his remedy before the defendants. The plaintiff could not place any material to show that he approached the defendants for compensation for the demolition of his house and established that the defendants have an obligation to pay compensation, but they did not discharge their legal obligation. Even otherwise, if the plaintiff feels that he is entitled for compensation, he can directly file a suit for compensation, but the suit in the present form".
2. The order is cryptic and arbitrary. No provision is mentioned as to how the petitioner-plaintiff was to exhaust any remedy before the defendants before approaching the Civil Court. The order has amounted to rejection of the plaint. The circumstances under which a plaint can be rejected are to be read from Clauses (a) to (d) of Order VII, Rule 11 of Code of Civil Procedure which reads as follows:
"11. The plaint shall be rejected in the following cases-
(a) where it does not disclose a cause of action;
(b) where the relief claimed 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;
3. None of the above clauses empower the Court to reject the plaint on the ground that alternative remedy is not exhausted. If the defendants after issue of summons raise any contention as to the maintainability of the suit for any reason that will form the subject matter of issue under Order 14, Rule 1 CPC and can be a preliminary issue under Order 14, Rule 2 CPC when the maintainability of the suit can be questioned. In the absence of any specific provision in any law barring a suit for such relief of mandatory injunction, the presumption of jurisdiction of a Civil Court to try all suits of civil nature under Section 9 of CPC cannot be taken to have been ousted. The learned District Munsif has committed a very serious error in law touching (he question of jurisdiction and, therefore, this Court has to interfere with the impugned order under Section 115 CPC.
4. The petition is allowed. The matter is remitted back to the Court of the District Munsif, Mahaboobnagar to register the suit unless it cannot be registered for any other reason and issue summons to the defendanls and further proceed in accordance with law. As pointed out by the learned advocate for the petitioner, the learned District Munsif shall also consider any application which is pending for any interim relief on its own merits. No costs.