Acqua Borewell Pvt. Ltd. v. Swayam Prabha & Ors.
Background
In a partition suit filed in Bengaluru over a large set of family properties, the trial court initially refused an interim injunction, partly because some of the properties were held in the names of firms/trusts/companies that were not parties to the suit. The High Court partly allowed the plaintiffs' appeal and granted an injunction restraining alienation of a 1/7th share of the properties. Several third parties, including Acqua Borewell Pvt. Ltd., who claimed rights over specific properties through development agreements but had never been made parties to the suit, challenged this injunction before the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that since applications to implead these third parties as defendants were already pending (filed by the plaintiffs themselves, who considered them necessary parties), the High Court should not have granted an injunction affecting their claimed properties without first hearing them. The Court set aside the High Court's injunction specifically as it applied to the properties in which the appellants claimed an interest, and directed the trial court to first decide the pending impleadment applications, after which it could reconsider the injunction question afresh on its own merits.
Lesson Learnt
Courts cannot pass orders, even interim ones, that affect a person's property rights without first giving that person a chance to be heard, especially when an application to add them as a party is already pending before the same court.