Supreme Court: Plaint That Should Go Before Commercial Court Should Be Returned By Civil Court Under Order VII Rule 10 CPC And Not Rejected

The Supreme Court clarifies that a plaint that should be filed before Commercial Court, but was wrongly filed before the regular Civil Court, should be returned under Order 7, Rule 10 of the CPC instead of rejecting the plaint under Order 7, Rule 11.

An appeal was filed against the judgment of the Allahabad High Court dismissing the appeal against an order rejecting the plaint.

A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan held, “We dispose of this appeal with a direction that the plaint of Original Suit No.449/2023 shall be handed over to the appellant – herein – original plaintiff so as to present it before the Court of competent jurisdiction i.e. the Commercial Court...The entire record of the proceedings shall stand transferred to the Commercial Court. The order passed by the High Court to the extent of return of plaint stands affirmed.”

Case Brief

The Appellant herein had filed a suit for permanent injunction restraining the Respondent from interfering with the running of the business of Brick Kiln. It was contended by the Appellant that he had entered into a partnership agreement with the Respondent in 2017 for the business of brick Klin and since they have been running the business.

However, the Respondent stopped sharing profit with the Appellant in 2021 and started creating hindrances in the business and is trying to grab the Brick Kiln.

The trial court noted that the basis of suit is partnership agreement; thus, the dispute between the parties is purely of a commercial nature. Accordingly, the trial court rejected the plaint under Order 7 Rule 11(d) CPC and returned the plaint to the plaintiff for presentation before the competent court.

An appeal was filed before the High Court of Allahabad against the decision, and the High Court noted that any dispute on the basis of partnership agreement is a commercial dispute and in view of Section 6 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, the Commercial Court has jurisdiction to try all suits and applications relating to a commercial dispute.

Henceforth, the High Court of Allahabad observed that the trial court had rightly allowed the application filed by defendant-respondent under Order 7 Rule 11(d) and returned the plaint under Order 7 Rule 10 CPC.

Court’s Observation

The Bench noted the prayer made by the Appellants in the suit for permanent injunction. The Appellant made two fold prayers: return of plaint under Order VII Rule 10 of the CPC and in the alternative, also prayed for rejection of the plaint under the provisions of Order VII Rule 11 CPC.

While taking note of the issue at hand, the Court noted, “If the Civil Court is of the view that the dispute being commercial in nature has to go before the Commercial Court then the plaint has to be returned under Order VII Rule 10 CPC. The entire plaint cannot be rejected under Order VII Rule 11 CPC. This is the only clarification which is required in the present appeal.”

Accordingly, the Court disposed of the appeal directing that the plaint shall be handed over to the Appellant so as to present it before the Court of competent jurisdiction, i.e. the Commercial Court.

“The entire record of the proceedings shall stand transferred to the Commercial Court”, the Court added.

Accordingly, the Appeal was disposed of.

Cause Title: Aase Ram V. Amit Kumar (Civil Appeal No. 9481/2025)

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