Defendants In A Suit Cannot File Counter Claim Against Each Other: Madhya Pradesh HC
The Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that co-defendants in a suit cannot file the counter claim against each other and thus the inter se dispute between the co-defendants cannot be decided.
The Court said that if they have a separate dispute in respect of one of the property, they can contest separately and for which Section 10 of CPC will not apply.
The petitioner, who claimed to be the owner and occupier of an agricultural land, had contended that the said land was illegally encroached upon by his real brother, the respondent.
A Single Bench of Justice Vivek Rusia observed, “The dispute between plaintiff and defendant is altogether different dispute in which plaintiff is seeking decree for possession and protection of his suit land. Plaintiff and defendant both are codefendants in the previous suit and it is a settled law that the codefendants cannot fight against each other as they cannot file a counter claim against each other. Hence, any inter se dispute between plaintiff and defendant…cannot be decided in pending first appeal before this Court.”
Advocate Jitendra Bharat Mehta represented the petitioner, while Advocate Vinay Puranik appeared for the respondent.
The petitioner filed a petition under Section 10 of the CPC being aggrieved by the order of the trial court which had stayed the proceedings of the suit. The petitioner filed a suit for permanent injunction, relief of possession, mesne profit, and compensation.
Following this, the respondent filed an application under Section 151 of CPC seeking dismissal of the suit on the ground that the suit property was a subject matter of suit where the Court had ordered status quo.
The trial Court considered the application under Section 10 of CPC and not Section 151 of CPC and stayed the suit because the suit property was also included in a previous suit. Aggrived by the same, the petiitoner had filed a petition before the High Court.
The High Court pointed out that the petitioner and defendant were both co-defendants in the previous suit. “It is a settled law that the codefendants cannot fight against each other as they cannot file a counter claim against each other,” the Court explained.
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the petition.
Cause Title: Arvind Kumar v. Trilok Kumar
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocate Jitendra Bharat Mehta
Respondent: Advocate Vinay Puranik
