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TMI Blog1954 (10) TMI 57X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -3-1949. Tara Chand, plaintiff-respondent, brought a suit for pre-emption of this sale. On 22-3-1950, he filed an application in the Court of the District Judge to the following effect : The petitioner had engaged a counsel at Jullundur and original documents which are relied upon are also at the Sadar (Jullundur). It is therefore prayed that the plaint be sent to any Court at Sadar instead of the Court at Nawanshahr . This application was handed over to the District Judge himself. There is a dispute between the parties as to whether the plaint was, or was not presented along with the application, but for the purposes of this case I shall assume that it was presented and that seems to be more probable because of the orders which I ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e that I must refer to certain provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure and to those of the Punjab Courts Act. Under Section 15, Civil P. C., every suit shall be instituted in the Court of the lowest grade competent to try it and Section 26 of the Code provides that it shall be instituted by the presentation of a plaint or in such other manner as may be prescribed. Under Order 4 Rule 1 every suit shall be instituted by presenting a plaint to the Court or such officer as it appoints in this behalf. 5. Under Section 34, Punjab Courts Act every District Judge has the power to distribute business and Section 37 of this Act provides- '37. A District Court may, with the previous sanction of the High Court delegate to any Subordinate Ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en that the value was more it was held on parties' agreeing that the suit was triable by the Court of a Subordinate Judge of the First Class and the plaint was returned for presentation to the proper Court under Order 7 Rule 10, Civil P. C. on 6-1-1920. The plaintiff made up the deficiency in the court-fee presented the suit in the Court of the Senior Subordinate Judge on 5-2-1920, and the point for decision was that if the suit was taken to be instituted in the Court of the Senior Subordinate Judge when the plaint was first presented to it, then the institution of the suit was on 11-7-1919, and was well within time and that if it was to be taken to be instituted in the Court of the Subordinate Judge of the First Class on 5-2-1920, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lways do so when it is for the convenience of the litigants. Regard should be had to the provisions of Sections 15 and 20 and Order 4, Rule 1, Civil P. C., in framing directions regarding the reception of civil suits. Mr. Nayar submits that according to these rules the power to receive plaints is vested both in the District Judge as well as in the Court sitting at a distance from the headquarters and that the plaintiff was justified in taking the plaint to the Court of the District Judge and it was for the District Judge to distribute the plaint to any Subordinate Judge within his jurisdiction but there are two arguments against it. First of all there is a specific rule that suits shall be filed in the Court of the Judge sitting at a d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d even if the suit was filed in the Court of the District Judge the question does not arise because he sent it under his powers of distribution to a Court of Subordinate Judge First Class and it was held that for purposes of Section 10, Civil P. C., the suit was instituted on the date when it was presented to the District Judge. 8. Reliance was then placed on a judgment of the Madras High Court in -- 'Ramaswami Iyer v. Veerarayan Raja', AIR 1941 Mad 711 (C), where it was held that presentation of a plaint to a Court which has no jurisdiction cannot be said to be institution of the suit and that a suit will be deemed to be instituted when the plaint is presented to the Court having proper jurisdiction and that Court accepts the pl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... are triable at a place away from the headquarters the plaints shall be presented in that Court, in my opinion it is not left to the litigant to choose any Court that he likes, and in this I am fortified by the opinion of the Division Bench of the Lahore High Court in AIR 1928 Lah 484 (A), to which I have made reference, and therefore if the litigant does not follow the ordinary rule, the presentation of the suit would be on a date when the plaint is sent to the proper Court and the institution under Order 4 Rule 1, Civil P. C., must be taken to be on the date when it is instituted in that Court. 11. It is then submitted that Section 14, Limitation Act, applies in this case because the plaintiff 'bona fide' filed his suit in the C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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