Return and rejection are different
Return of a plaint is quite different from rejection of a plaint by a civil court. The Order 7 Rules 10 and 10B speak about return of plaint.
Court can return on following reasons
The court when it finds at any stage of the suit that it has no territorial, pecuniary or subject matter jurisdiction, it should return the plaint. The returned plaint subsequently needs to be presented to the proper court.
What the judge should endorse
The judge returning the plaint should make endorsements on it regarding
- The date of presentation
- The date of return
- The name of the party resenting it and the reason for returning it
To return the plaint the averments in the plaint alone need to be looked into. The plaint should be read as a whole to find out the intention behind it.
Returned plaint will start afresh
The returned plaint will start afresh when it is presented to the proper court. The freshly filed plaint in the proper court is not the continuation of the plaint presented in the improper court.
The order of the court relating to return of the plaint is appealable.
Further reading
- Begum Sabinha v Nawab Mohd Mansur (AIR 2007 SC 1636)
- Harshad Chemanlal Modi v DLF Universal Ltd [(2006) 1 SC 364)
