Kerala High Court: Court Cannot Return Plaint Under Order VII Rule 11 CPC Without Assigning Case Number Or Issuing Notice

The Kerala High Court has held that without assigning the number, or going to the pleadings of the case, and without issuing notice to the other side, the Court cannot return the plaint and jump to the conclusion that the suit was of a commercial nature.

The Bench of Justice K. Natarajan held, “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case,though the trial court passed an order for the return of the plaint, it is well settled that when a suit is filed, the court is required to assign the number and take up the case and verify the pleadings in respect of payment of court fees, jurisdiction, and law as required under Order VII Rule 11 of C.P.C. If all court fees are not paid or the suit is barred by jurisdiction or law, the court can return the plaint as per Order VII Rule 10A of C.P.C., but without assigning the number, without going to the pleadings of the case, and without issuing notice to the other side, jumping to the conclusion the suit is commercial in nature and the property values are crores is a presumption by the presiding officer without raising objection by the respondents/defendants in the court after service of summons. Therefore, the order under challenge is required to be set aside.”

Advocate Rahul Krishnan U.S represented the Petitioners.

Case Brief

A Suit was filed by the Petitioners under Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963. The trial court, without registering the suit and assigning the number, returned the plaint even without following the procedure under Order VII Rule 10 of C.P.C., only on the ground of pecuniary jurisdiction and payment of court fees.

Court’s Analysis

The Court was of the view that when a suit is filed, the court is required to assign the number and take up the case and verify the pleadings in respect of payment of court fees, jurisdiction, and law as required under Order VII Rule 11 of C.P.C.

However, without assigning the number or going to the pleadings of the case, and without issuing notice to the other side, the Court cannot jump to the conclusion that the suit was of a commercial nature.

Consequently, the Court directed to register the suit and assign the number, then issue notice to the respondents and take up the matter regarding maintainability, and if the court finds the jurisdiction or barred by law, then return the plaint in accordance with the law.

Accordingly, the Original Petition was allowed.

Cause Title: M/s Pace CFS Pvt. Ltd. V. R. Gopinath Nair (Neutral Citation: 2025:KER:60893)

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocates Rahul Krishnan U.S, Kiran Krishna and Siddique Sulaiman

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