SULAKHAN SINGH Vs. DALJIT SINGH AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALLEGING themselves to be tenants in 10 Bighas 16 Biswas of agricultural land belonging to Sulakhan Singh Petitioner Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 filed against him and his mother Smt. Iqbal Kaur civil suit No. 477 on 15th June, 1983 for permanent injunction restraining them from interfering with their peaceful possession of and enjoyment over the agricultural land aforesaid. Shingara Singh father of Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 was impleaded as proforma Defendant therein. Learned trial court reached the conclusion that Shingara Singh was mortgagee of the land and that Respondent Nos. 1 & 2 had been cultivating the land as sons of the mortgagee and not as tenants under the Petitioner. Suit filed by them was accordingly dismissed by the learned trial court on 28th August, 1986.

(2.) IN appeal, filed by Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 learned Additional District Judge, Patiala allowed them to withdraw the suit without opportunity to file fresh one on the same cause of action. Ins spite of it, Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 have filed before the learned trial court a fresh suit Annexure P.2 to the present Civil Revision and have moved application Annexure P. 1 for the grant of ad interim injunction.

(3.) BASING his claim on the observations made in Jubedan Begum and Ors. v. Sekhawat Ali Khan : AIR 1984 P&H 221 learned Counsel for the Petitioner urged that the learned court of first appeal had erred while allowing Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to withdraw their suit. Relevant observations read, "After hearing the learned Counsel for the parties, I am of the considered view that the lower Appellate Court has acted illegally in allowing the Plaintiff to withdraw the suit after setting aside the judgment and decree of the trial Court dismissing the suit. The words "at any time" in Rule 1 of Order 23 of the Code would apply to the suit pending in the trial Court. Once the decree is passed by the trial Court, then certain rights are vested in the party in whose favour the suit is decided. Thus, the Plaintiff is not entitled to withdraw the suit, as a matter of course, at any time after the decree is passed by the trial Court.