• Can the Civil Suit be dismissed Under Order VII Rule No. 11 read with Section 151 of CPC

Dear Sirs,

I have filed a Civil Suit against my neighbor over their illegal constructions and the same is under trail for the past five years. Since the suit is in the final stage, as a counterblast, my neighbor has filed a Civil suit against us around 8 months back alleging illegal constructions / leakage in from my flat. 

While filing the Civil suit in the court, my neighbor has filed the site plan, copy of complaint letter sent to MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) which is dated 10th of January 2015 as well as other documents. In all, there were 30 page documents but the legible copies were not served to us. One of the reason was that the site plan submitted to the Hon'ble Court itself was not a legible one and also the complaint letter sent to MCD was 19th January 2015 which they do not want us to know. Since the full set of documents were not provided to us, we inspected the file and came to know about these anomalies. 

So, we could not file any replication but informed the Hon'ble Court. The Hon'ble Judge perused the file and found our statements are correct and advised the plaintiff to give all the documents to us that were submitted in the court. The same was recorded in the order sheets also. Finally we got the documents after three hearings - except the site plan, copy of the complaint letter sent to the MCD and also the number of documents suddenly increased to 32 instead of 30 as submitted in the court. 

The Hon'ble Court was not happy with this and onceagain have ordered the Plaintiff to provide all the legible copies of the documents. Since the site plan has been referred in the main suit three times and also the complaint letter as an important one, we could not file our replication without these crucial documents. 

Our lawyer has suggested us to file an application seeking dismissal of the Suit Under Order VII Rule No.11 read with Section 151 CPC on the following reasons:

1. As part of the Judicial process, all the documents were not provided to us as ordered by the Hon'ble Court despite three reminders.. 
2. There is no cause of action mentioned in the suit.
3. The complaint letter sent to the MCD about the leakage was on 19th January 2015 whereas the Civil Suit is filed on 10th November 2017 - i.,e after a gap of two years and 10 months and hence it is time barred. 
4. The suit itself is filed as a counterblast to our civil suit which is in the final stage of the trial. 

The question is:

1. Whether the suit can be dismissed Under Order VII Rule No.11 read with Section 151 CPC ?

2. If so, is there any Judgement / citation that can be referred in the next hearing to dismiss the suit?

3. If the Plaintiff still do not submit the complete documents despite repeated orders of the court, how the defendant can file replication and go for the trail?

4. Is there any way, we can get rid of this case legally, since it is a counterblast to our Suit.

With regards,

Rishi
Asked 6 years ago in Civil Law

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11 Answers

The order reads as follow:

Rejection of Plaint – O.7 R.11 and disclosure of complete cause of action as contemplated under O.7 R.1(e)

ORDER 7 RULE 11: 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 to comply with the provisions of rule 9:

Provided that the time fixed by the Court for the correction of the valuation or supplying of the requisite stamp-paper shall not be extended unless the Court, for reasons to be recorded, is satisfied that the plaintiff was prevented by any cause of an exceptional nature for correcting the valuation or supplying the requisite stamp-paper, as the case may be, within the time fixed by the Court and that refusal to extend such time would cause grave injustice to the plaintiff.

yes the application for the same can be filed.

You may refer to the following judgment:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzXilfcxe7yuSlpod2RWYklhaUE/view

Regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18079 Answers
377 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Yes the suit can be dismissed under order 7 rule 11 since no valid cause of action.

2. The Supreme Court in a decision reported in AIR 1977 SC 2421 (T. Arivandandam v. T.V. Satyapal) has emphasised that the Court where a plaint is presented should exercise the power under Order 7, Rule 11, C.P.C. where on a meaningful reading of the plaint it is manifestly vexatious, and meritless, in the sense of not disclosing a clear right to sue. In the language of their Lordships, where the plaint creates an illusion of the cause of action, it should be nipped in the bud. Another principle should also be kept in mind that for rejection of a plaint under Order 7, Rule 11, C.P.C, the Court should examine the plaint and no other material for finding out if the plaint discloses a cause of action.

2. Defendant can give there reply based on legible documents further can raise the issue the documents are false and illegible and a legible copy should be provided and defendant reserve right to comment and reply when the copies are provided.

4. Sir, the order 7 rule 11 application is only way to get it reject on primary stage.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. The suit can be dismissed only if the conditions set in order 7 r 11 cpc is fulfilled.

2. Judgement has no uniform applicability and it applies as per facts and situation of the case.

3. Please note that non submission of document is no ground for rejection of plaint. You require other grounds like non disclosure of cause of action or bar by law to succeed in the petition for rejection of plaint.

4.There is no other way.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22840 Answers
490 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) suit is not barred by limitation

2) there is no bar to filing counter suit

3) if all documents not furnished court can impose costs on plaintiffs

4) no need to dismiss suit

5) court can impose costs on plaintiffs for failure to furnish documents inspite of court orders

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94821 Answers
7557 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. the plaint can be rejected for having no cause of action

2.

3. you can seek extension of time to file your written statement or you can also submit your written statement without prejudice to your right to file an additional written statement when the pending documents are provided to you

4. try the order 7 Rule 11 Application and get the suit dismissed at the initial stage itself

Yusuf Rampurawala
Advocate, Mumbai
7522 Answers
79 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear Client,

There`s no provision in CPC to provide document to opposite party but IN spite court order and failure to disclose cause of action, petition liable to be dismissed under above provision.

It is settled law that the plaint as a whole alone can be rejected under Order VII Rule 11. In Maqsud Ahmad v.

Mathra Datt & Co. , A.I.R. 1936 Lahore 1021 at 1022

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
22661 Answers
31 Consultations

4.4 on 5.0

Order VII Rule 11 is for rejection of the plaint but it is depends upon the court to accept or reject. You have to argue and satisfy the court as per no jurisdiction or time barred or no cause of action persists.

Anand Shukla
Advocate, New Delhi
666 Answers
14 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

1. Under this provision if the court is convinced about the genuineness pleaded in the said petition, it may reject the plaint for the said reasons..

2. There are plenty of judgments depending on individual cases and their backgrounds, your advocate may be able to procure one to sail through.

3. If the plaintiff has filed all those documents before court to support his plaint pleadings, you may obtain a certified copy of the same from court directly instead of begging the plaintiff.

Have you applied for certified copies of the court documents?

4. You have to challenge the same on merits.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
85022 Answers
2208 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The defendant can always obtain certified copies of the suit documents.

If the cause of action is vague it may not warrant a need to reject the plaint under order7 ruke 11 cpc.

The defendant may argue and challenge the suit in trial proceedings.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
85022 Answers
2208 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Court would not dismiss suit at this juncture

If plaintiff fails to provide legible documents court can impose costs on plaintiffs

Trial would not proceed in absence of legible documents

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94821 Answers
7557 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Yes since there is no cause of action suit is barred by the limitation the suit can be dismissed as barred by the law under order 7 rule 11

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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