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Ram Lal & Ors. v. Salig Ram & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 129Decided 4 Feb 2019
Civil Appeal No. 8285 of 2009
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

The appellants sued neighbouring landowners for a prohibitory injunction, or alternatively possession, alleging the defendants had encroached on part of their land in Himachal Pradesh. After a Local Commissioner's demarcation report supported the plaintiffs, the first appellate court decreed the suit in their favour, but the Himachal Pradesh High Court, in second appeal, held the Commissioner had not followed the prescribed demarcation procedure (failing to fix three permanent reference points) and on that basis threw out the suit entirely.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that even if the Local Commissioner's report suffered from a procedural irregularity, under Order XXVI Rule 10(3) CPC the correct remedy was for the court to direct a fresh inquiry or issue a new commission, not to dismiss the entire suit, especially since the plaintiffs had also led other oral and documentary evidence that the High Court had overlooked. The Court found the High Court's approach of discarding the report and straightaway dismissing the suit to be incorrect, allowed the appeal, set aside the judgments of the High Court and the courts below, and restored the suit to the trial court for a fresh commission and fresh decision on all issues, with a timeline for expeditious disposal.

Lesson Learnt

A technical flaw in a court-appointed Commissioner's demarcation report is only grounds to order a fresh inquiry or a new report, not to dismiss an entire property suit outright, especially where other evidence on the disputed facts exists and has not been properly considered.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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