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TMI Blog2012 (9) TMI 808X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iff. The aforesaid relief was claimed on the basis of two agreements of sale entered into by the plaintiffs and the defendant both on 27.7.2005 in respect of two different parcels of immovable property consisting of land and superstructures built on plot No. 65 (old No.43) and plot No. 66 (old No.42), Second Main Road, Ambattur Industrial Estate, Chennai. In each of the aforesaid suits the plaintiff had stated that under the agreements of sale different amounts were paid to the defendants, yet, on the pretext that restrictions on the alienation of the suit land were likely to be issued by the Central Excise Department on account of pending revenue demands, the defendants were attempting to frustrate the agreements in question. In the suits filed by the plaintiff it was also stated that as the period of six months fixed for execution of the sale deeds under the agreements in question was not yet over, the plaintiff is not claiming specific performance of the agreements. The plaintiff, accordingly, sought leave of the court to omit to claim the relief of specific performance with liberty to sue for the said relief at a later point of time, if necessary. The two suits in question, i.e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 5 the time stipulated in the agreements between the parties for execution of the sale deeds had not expired. Therefore, the cause of action to seek the relief of specific performance had not matured. According to the High Court it is only after filing of the aforesaid suits and on failure of the defendants to execute the sale deeds pursuant to the legal notice dated 24.2.2006 that the cause of action to seek the aforesaid relief of specific performance had accrued. The High Court, accordingly, took the view that the provisions of Order II Rule 2 (3) of the CPC were not attracted to render the subsequent suits filed by the plaintiff i.e. O.S. Nos. 202 and 203 non-maintainable. The High Court also took the view that the provisions of Order II Rule 2 (3) of the CPC would render a subsequent suit not maintainable, only, if the earlier suit has been decreed and the said provisions of the CPC will not apply if the first suit remains pending. In arriving at the aforesaid conclusion the learned Single Judge of the High Court considered himself to be bound by the decision of a Division Bench of the same High Court in the case of R.Vimalchand and M.Ratanchand v. Ramalingam, T.Srinivasalu & T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... makes it clear that he shall not, afterwards, sue for the part or portion of the claim that has been omitted or relinquished. It must be noticed that Order II Rule 2 (2) does not contemplate omission or relinquishment of any portion of the plaintiff's claim with the leave of the court so as to entitle him to come back later to seek what has been omitted or relinquished. Such leave of the Court is contemplated by Order II Rule 2(3) in situations where a plaintiff being entitled to more than one relief on a particular cause of action, omits to sue for all such reliefs. In such a situation, the plaintiff is precluded from bringing a subsequent suit to claim the relief earlier omitted except in a situation where leave of the Court had been obtained. It is, therefore, clear from a conjoint reading of the provisions of Order II Rule 2 (2) and (3) of the CPC that the aforesaid two sub-rules of Order II Rule 2 contemplate two different situations, namely, where a plaintiff omits or relinquishes a part of a claim which he is entitled to make and, secondly, where the plaintiff omits or relinquishes one out of the several reliefs that he could have claimed in the suit. It is only in the latt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... facturing Co.& Anr.[AIR 1997 SC 1398] 11. The cardinal requirement for application of the provisions contained in Order II Rule 2(2) and (3), therefore, is that the cause of action in the later suit must be the same as in the first suit. It will be wholly unnecessary to enter into any discourse on the true meaning of the said expression, i.e. cause of action, particularly, in view of the clear enunciation in a recent judgment of this Court in the Church of Christ Charitable Trust and Educational Charitable Society, represented by its Chairman v. Ponniamman Educational Trust represented by its Chairperson/Managing Trustee [JT 2012 (6) SC 149]. The huge number of opinions rendered on the issue including the judicial pronouncements available does not fundamentally detract from what is stated in Halsbury's Law of England, (4th Edition). The following reference from the above work would, therefore, be apt for being extracted hereinbelow: "Cause of Action" has been defined as meaning simply a factual situation existence of which entitles one person to obtain from the Court a remedy against another person. The phrase has been held from earliest time to include every fact which is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ubt that on the dates when C.S. Nos. 831 and 833 of 2005 were instituted, namely, 28.8.2005 and 9.9.2005, the plaintiff itself had claimed that facts and events have occurred which entitled it to contend that the defendant had no intention to honour the agreements dated 27.7.2005. In the aforesaid situation it was open for the plaintiff to incorporate the relief of specific performance alongwith the relief of permanent injunction that formed the subject matter of above two suits. The foundation for the relief of permanent injunction claimed in the two suits furnished a complete cause of action to the plaintiff in C.S. Nos. 831 and 833 to also sue for the relief of specific performance. Yet, the said relief was omitted and no leave in this regard was obtained or granted by the Court. 15. Furthermore, according to the plaintiff, which fact is also stated in the plaints filed in C.S. Nos. 831 and 833, on the date when the aforesaid two suits were filed the relief of specific performance was premature inasmuch as the time for execution of the sale documents by the defendant in terms of the agreements dated 27.7.2005 had not elapsed. According to the plaintiff, it is only after ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aforesaid conclusion. However, we are unable to agree with the same in view of the object behind the enactment of the provisions of Order II Rule 2 of the CPC as already discussed by us, namely, that Order II Rule 2 of the CPC seeks to avoid multiplicity of litigations on same cause of action. If that is the true object of the law, on which we do not entertain any doubt, the same would not stand fully subserved by holding that the provisions of Order II Rule 2 of the CPC will apply only if the first suit is disposed of and not in a situation where the second suit has been filed during the pendency of the first suit. Rather, Order II, Rule 2 of the CPC will apply to both the aforesaid situations. Though direct judicial pronouncements on the issue are somewhat scarce, we find that a similar view had been taken in a decision of the High Court at Allahabad in Murti v. Bhola Ram[(1894) ILR 16 All 165] and by the Bombay High Court in Krishnaji v. Raghunath [AIR 1954 BOM 125]. 17. In the light of the above discussions we are of the view that the present appeals deserve to be allowed. Accordingly we allow the same and set aside the judgment and order dated 6.10.2009 passed by the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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