IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 10416-10417 OF 2014
(Arising out of S.L.P. (C) Nos. 13942-13943 of 2012)
R. Rajanna …Appellant
Versus
S.R. Venkataswamy & Ors. …Respondents
Can the validity of a decree passed on a compromise be challenged in a separate suit is the short question that falls for determination in this appeal. The Trial Court decreed the suit holding the gift-deed in question to be null and void, hence not binding on the plaintiff-appellant. The High Court had proceeded on the basis that a compromise had indeed taken place between the parties in the light whereof the High Court set aside the judgment and decree of the Trial Court and allowed the appeal filed by the respondents. The High Court fell in a palpable error in directing the plaintiff to take recourse to the remedy by way of separate suit. The High Court in the process remained oblivious of the provisions of Order XXIII Rules 3 and 3A of the CPC as also orders passed by the City Civil Court rejecting the plaint in which the Trial Court had not only placed reliance upon Order XXIII Rule 3A but also the decision of the Court in Pushpa Devi’s case (supra) holding that a separate suit was not maintainable and that the only remedy available to the aggrieved party was to approach the Court which had passed the compromise decree….read more