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Satish Chand Surana v. Raj Kumar Meshram

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 829Decided 6 Dec 2021
Civil Appeal No. 7446 of 2021
Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice Krishna Murari

Background

The appellant had sued for specific performance of an agreement to sell certain agricultural land, but the suit proceeded ex parte against the defendant and was dismissed by the trial court. While his first appeal was pending before the Chhattisgarh High Court, the appellant applied to bring additional evidence on record under Order 41 Rule 27 of the Civil Procedure Code. The High Court dismissed the appeal outright without ever deciding that application.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that while an appellate court has discretion over whether to allow additional evidence, it cannot simply ignore a pending application for additional evidence and proceed to dismiss the appeal, doing so risks a miscarriage of justice, especially since the first appellate court is the last forum for facts and evidence. Finding that the High Court had done exactly that, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal in part, set aside the High Court's judgment, and sent the matter back to the High Court to decide the application for additional evidence and then dispose of the appeal afresh.

Lesson Learnt

An appellate court must formally decide any pending application to admit additional evidence before (or along with) deciding the appeal itself: it cannot dismiss the main appeal while leaving that application unaddressed.

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

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