R. MALLIKA Vs. EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL INDIA PVT. LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The issues for consideration involved in these revisions are as follows:

(2.) Brief facts leading to the filing of these Civil Revision Petitioins are as follows :-

(3.) The suit was filed by the respondent/plaintiff against the petitioners herein for the recovery of a sum of Rs.5,61,736/- together with interests and costs on the ground that the petitioners herein failed to refund the advance amount under a lease agreement, dated 01.10.2005. In the plaint filed in O.S. SR No.46217 of 2008 before the City Civil Court at Chennai, the respondent valued the suit at Rs.5,61,736/- and has also disclosed that the correct Court fee payable under Section 22 of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suit Valuation Act, 1955, is Rs.42,130/-. But at the time of filing the suit on 29.09.2008, the entire Court fee of Rs.42,130/- was not paid by the respondent, instead they paid only a meagre court fee of Rs.300 and therefore, the suit was not numbered at the inception. The Registry of the City Civil Court at Chennai returned the plaint to the respondent / plaintiff for compliance of the defects in filing the suit and granted 10 days time. The respondent / plaintiff did not comply with the return on time, but instead re-presented the plaint in O.S. SR 46217 of 2008 along with a condone delay application I.A. No.18276 of 2013 in O.S. SR No.46217 of 2008 to condone the inordinate delay of 1874 days in re-presenting the suit in O.S. SR No.46217 of 2008. Along with the condone delay application, the respondent / plaintiff also filed another application viz., I.A. No.2471 of 2014 in O.S. SR No.46217 of 2008 seeking permission of the Court to pay the deficit court fee of Rs.41,831/- in the above referred suit in O.S. SR No.46217 of 2008 under Section 149 CPC. The reasons given by the respondent/plaintiff for not re-presenting the suit within 10 days from the date of the original return i.e. on 20.10.2008 was that after taking return of the bundle from the Registry, the bundle got misplaced with other disposed bundles at the time of renovation of the respondent/plaintiff counsel's office. According to the respondent / plaintiff, the bundle of the returned papers were found only during the second week of December 2013 along with other office bundles. With the aforesaid reasons, the respondent / plaintiff had sought for condonation of 1874 days in re-presenting the plaint and had also sought permission of the Court under Section 149 CPC to pay the deficit court fee.