As per case facts, the lessor leased a commercial property to the lessee, who later defaulted on rent payment from April 2020, citing the Covid-19 pandemic as a force majeure ...
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IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
CIVIL REVISIONAL JURISDICTION
APPELLATE SIDE
Before:
The Hon’ble Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya
C.O. 1321 of 2025
Flowers Valley Floriculture Pvt. Ltd.
Vs.
Airplaza Retail Holdings Pvt. Ltd.
For the Petitioner : Mr. Rajarshi Dutta
….. advocate
For the Opposite Party : Mr. Amit Kumar Nag
Mr. Subhajit Ghosh
…advocates
Reserved on : 12.03.2026
Judgment on : 20.05.2026
Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.:-
1. This application under Article 227 of the Constitution of India is at the
instance of the plaintiff and is directed against an order being no. 38 dated
February 17, 2025 passed by the learned Judge, Commercial Court at
Rajarhat in T.S. (Com) no. 27 of 2024.
2. By the order impugned, the application under Order XIIIA of the Code of
Civil Procedure filed by the petitioner herein stood rejected on contest.
3. The facts giving rise to this application under Article 227 of the Constitution
of India, in a nut shell, are as follows-
4. By a registered deed of lease dated July 31, 2019, the petitioner as lessor
had leased out an immovable property comprising of a commercial space
together with covered car parking spaces in two contiguous buildings at Kazi
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Nazrul Islam Avenue (for short “the suit property”) to the opposite party
herein, for a period of 9 years commencing from July 1, 2019. The opposite
party paid the monthly lease rent as per the agreed terms of the lease deed
till March 2020. However, from April 2020 the opposite party did not make
payment of the monthly lease rent as per the terms of the lease deed.
5. By a letter dated April 7, 2020, the opposite party expressed its willingness
to pay rent at the rate of 2% of actual revenue from March 22, 2020 in view
of the onset of Covid-19 Pandemic. Petitioner immediately replied to the
letter dated April 7, 2020 by an e-mail dated April 9, 2020 stating that
Covid-19 pandemic do not fall within the purview of Force Majeure Clause
and, therefore, the Covid-19 Pandemic did not exonerate and/or prevent the
opposite party in any manner whatsoever from discharging its obligations
with regard to payment of lease rent in terms of the lease deed. Though
there was exchange of correspondences between the parties, but the
petitioner did not agree to accept the payment terms as proposed by the
opposite party.
6. The opposite party, without consent of the petitioner, deposited certain
amounts in the bank account of the petitioner but the petitioner returned
such amounts to the opposite party and also raised objections against such
deposits being made by the opposite party.
7. Petitioner through its learned advocate issued a notice dated September 16,
2020 informing the opposite party about the “material breach” of the terms
and conditions of the lease deed and called upon the o pposite party to
rectify such default within one month from the date of receipt of the said
notice and on failure to rectify the default within the time limit stipulated
therein, the lease deed shall stand terminated on the expiry of two months
thereafter. The opposite party replied to the notice dated September 16,
2020 by a letter dated September 29, 2020.
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8. On the grounds as stated hereinbefore, the petitioner filed the instant suit
for recovery of possession, decree for arrears of lease rent, mesne profits and
for perpetual injunction.
9. In the said suit, the petitioner took out an application under Order XIIIA of
the Code of Civil Procedure for passing a summary judgment and decree for
recovery of vacant and peaceful possession of the demised premises and for
a decree for arrears of lease rent.
10. The opposite party contested the application for summary judgment by filing
an affidavit-in-opposition thereto.
11. Petitioner also filed an affidavit-in-reply to the affidavit-in-opposition filed by
the opposite party herein.
12. By the order impugned, the learned Judge of the Commercial Court rejected
the application filed by the petitioner under order XIIIA of the Code of Civil
Procedure. Being aggrieved, the plaintiff has approached this Court.
13. Mr. Surajit Nath Mitra, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner contended
that the defendant/opposite party has no real prospect of successful ly
defending the claim and no reasons have been assigned by the learned
Judge of the Commercial Court as to why the claim of the petitioner could
not be disposed of before recording of oral evidence. He contended that the
opposite party defaulted in payment of rent at the rate(s) specifically
mentioned in the lease deed and such default amounts to “material breach”
as defined in Clause 8(v) of the said lease deed. Mr. Mitra further contended
that as per the terms of the lease deed, petitioner issued a notice providing a
reasonable time to remedy the breach complained of. He further contended
that the lease stood determined upon expiry of two months thereafter in
view of the said notice. Mr. Mitra contended that the opposite party admitted
the existence of jural relationship of lessor and lessee between the petitioner
and the opposite party. The opposite party has also not disputed the service
of notice terminating the lease. He contended that a combined notice calling
upon the lessee/ opposite party to remedy the breach and determination of
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the lease on failure to rectify the breach is permissible in law. In support of
such contention he placed reliance upon a decision in the case of
Shaniwar Dhondu Dharnekar v. Prabhavati Chandrakant Patange ,
reported at AIR 1980 Bom 276.
14. Mr. Mitra placed reliance upon a decision in the case of Bright Enterprises
Private Ltd. v. MJ Bizcraft LLP, reported at 2017 SCC Online Del 6394
in support of his contention that an application for summary judgment can
be filed after service of summons on the defendant and prior to framing of
issues in the suit. He contended that the onset of Covid-19 pandemic cannot
be a ground to suspend or keep the payment of rent in abeyance by the
tenant/lessee to the landlord/lessor and in support of such contention he
placed reliance upon the decision in the case of reported at Siddhatha
Singh v. Ajit Singh Bawa, reported at (2022) SCC Online Del 2007. Mr.
Mitra further contended that as per the terms of the lease deed only if the
demised premises is wholly or substantially destroyed or damaged at any
time by the occurrence of any Force Majeure events then in such event the
lease shall stand revoked and determined. He submitted that the onset of
Covid-19 pandemic did not result in the premises being wholly or
substantially destroyed or damaged. He, thus, contended that onset of
Covid-19 pandemic cannot exonerate the opposite party from discharging its
obligations in respect of payment of lease rent as per the terms of the lease
deed.
15. Mr. Mitra placed reliance upon the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in
the case of Rajendra Prasad Gupta v. Prakash Chandra Mishra,
reported at (2011) 2 SCC 705 in support of his contention that a provision
in the Code of Civil Procedure has to be interpreted to mean that every
procedure is permitted for doing justice unless expressly prohibited. He
placed reliance upon a decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of
B. Premanand v. Mohan Koikal, reported at (2011) 4 SCC 266 in support
of his contention that if a provision of a statute is unambiguous and the
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legislative intent is clear from the said provision, the Court need not take the
aid of other rules of construction.
16. Mr. Nag, the learned advocate appearing for the opposite party seriously
disputed the contention of Mr. Mitra. He contended that in view of
imposition of nationwide lockdown by the Government of India and the
Government of West Bengal due to onset of Covid-19 pandemic, the opposite
party faced severe restrictions to operate the retail store at the suit property
and for which the opposite party was unable to pay the monthly lease rental
to the petitioner as per the terms of the lease deed. He further contended
that several correspondences were exchanged by and between the parties to
sort out the problem and to arrive at an agreement for payment of
reasonable lease rental. He submitted that the alleged non-payment of lease
rent during the period when restrictions were imposed for carrying on
business activities on account of onset of Covid-19 pandemic cannot be
treated as a “material breach” of the terms and conditions of the lease deed.
He further contended that the lease deed provides for one month notice
period to rectify the default and in case the lessee/opposite party fails to
rectify the default, a further notice is contemplated as per the lease deed.
He, thus, contended that a combined notice calling upon the opposite party
to rectify the alleged default within a period of one month with a further
intimation that on failure to do so the lease shall stand terminated after two
months cannot be said to be a valid notice of termination of lease as per the
lease deed. He, thus contended that the suit could not have been instituted
on the basis of such an invalid notice of termination of lease and, therefore,
the suit is liable to be dismissed on that ground.
17. Mr. Nag further submitted that Covid-19 pandemic is a Force Majeure event
and in support of such contention he placed reliance upon a decision of the
Delhi High Court in the case of Halliburton Offshore Services v. Vedanta
Ltd., reported at 2020 SCC Online Del 2068 . He also placed reliance upon
a decision of the Delhi High Court in the case of Mehra Jewel Palace (P)
Ltd. v. Miniso Life Style (P) Ltd., reported at (2022) SCC Online Del 1557
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in support of his contention that if the lessee suffered a loss due to shut
down of his shop on account of Covid-19 pandemic, any default on the part
of the lessee in performing its obligation to pay lease rent is due to a force
majeure condition and for such failure the lessee should not be penalized.
18. Heard the learned advocates for the parties and perused the materials
placed.
19. Order XIIIA of the Code of Civil Procedure was inserted by the Commercial
Courts Act 2015. Rule 1 of Order XIIIA states that the Courts may decide a
claim or part of a claim as well as any particular question on which the
claim (whether in whole or in part) depends or a counter claim, without
recording oral evidence.
20. Sub-rule 3 of Rule 1 of Order XIIIA starts with a non-obstante clause which
implies that an application for summary judgment shall not be made in a
suit in respect of any Commercial Dispute that is originally filed as a
summary suit under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure.
21. Rule 2 of Order XIIIA stipulates the time limit within which an application
for summary judgment may be filed. An application for summary judgment
may be filed at any time after the summons has been served upon the
defendant but prior to framing of issues in respect of the suit.
22. The grounds on which the Court may give a summary judgment has been
specifically stated in Rule 3 of Order XIIIA which is extracted hereinafter.
“3. Grounds for summary judgment. —The Court may give a
summary judgment against a plaintiff or defendant on a claim if it
considers that––
(a) the plaintiff has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim or the
defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim, as
the case may be; and
(b) there is no other compelling reason why the claim should not be
disposed of before recording of oral evidence.”
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23. Rule 3 thus empowers the Court to give a summary judgment against the
defendant if the Court considers that the defendant has no real prospect of
successfully defending the claim and there is no other compelling reason
why the claim should not be disposed of before recording of oral evidence.
24. Rule 4 of Order XIIIA lays down the procedure that is to be complied with in
case an applicant seeks a summary judgment.
25. Rule 4 of Order XIIIA is extracted hereinafter for better appreciation.
“4. Procedure.—(1) An application for summary judgment to a Court
shall, in addition to any other matters the applicant may deem relevant,
include the matters set forth in sub-clauses (a) to (f) mentioned
hereunder:—
(a) the application must contain a statement that it is an application for
summary judgment made under this Order;
(b) the application must precisely disclose all material facts and identify
the point of law, if any;
(c) in the event the applicant seeks to rely upon any documentary
evidence, the applicant must,––
(i) include such documentary evidence in its application, and
(ii) identify the relevant content of such documentary evidence on
which the applicant relies;
(d) the application must state the reason why there are no real
prospects of succeeding on the claim or defending the claim, as the case
may be;
(e) the application must state what relief the applicant is seeking and
briefly state the grounds for seeking such relief.
(2) Where a hearing for summary judgment is fixed, the respondent
must be given at least thirty days’ notice of:—
(a) the date fixed for the hearing; and
(b) the claim that is proposed to be decided by the Court at such
hearing.
(3) The respondent may, within thirty days of the receipt of notice of
application of summary judgment or notice of hearing (whichever is
earlier), file a reply addressing the matters set forth in clauses (a) to (f)
mentioned hereunder in addition to any other matters that the
respondent may deem relevant:—
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(a) the reply must precisely––
(i) disclose all material facts;
(ii) identify the point of law, if any; and
(iii) state the reasons why the relief sought by the applicant
should not be granted;
(b) in the event the respondent seeks to rely upon any documentary
evidence in its reply, the respondent must—
(i) include such documentary evidence in its reply; and
(ii) identify the relevant content of such documentary evidence on
which the respondent relies;
(c) the reply must state the reason why there are real prospects of
succeeding on the claim or defending the claim, as the case may be;
(d) the reply must concisely state the issues that should be framed for
trial;
(e) the reply must identify what further evidence shall be brought on
record at trial that could not be brought on record at the stage of
summary judgment; and
(f) the reply must state why, in light of the evidence or material on
record if any, the Court should not proceed to summary judgment.”
26. Rule 5 of Order XIIIA enables the parties to rely upon additional
documentary evidence during hearing.
“5. Evidence for hearing of summary judgment. —(1)
Notwithstanding anything in this Order, if the respondent in an
application for summary judgment wishes to rely on additional
documentary evidence during the hearing, the respondent must:—
(a) file such documentary evidence; and
(b) serve copies of such documentary evidence on every other party to
the application at least fifteen days prior to the date of the hearing.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Order, if the applicant for summary
judgment wishes to rely on documentary evidence in reply to the
defendant’s documentary evidence, the applicant must:—
(a) file such documentary evidence in reply; and
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(b) serve a copy of such documentary evidence on the respondent at
least five days prior to the date of the hearing.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, sub-rules (1) and (2) shall
not require documentary evidence to be:—
(a) filed if such documentary evidence has already been filed; or
(b) served on a party on whom it has already been served.”
27. Rule 6 of Order XIIIA enumerates the class of orders that the Court can pass
in exercise of its discretion on an application for summary judgment. The
said list is, however, not exhaustive but inclusive. Rule 6 is extracted
hereinafter.
“6. Orders that may be made by Court. —(1) On an application made
under this Order, the Court may make such orders that it may deem fit
in its discretion including the following:—
(a) judgment on the claim;
(b) conditional order in accordance with Rule 7 mentioned hereunder;
(c) dismissing the application;
(d) dismissing part of the claim and a judgment on part of the claim that
is not dismissed;
(e) striking out the pleadings (whether in whole or in part); or
(f) further directions to proceed for case management under Order XV-A.
(2) Where the Court makes any of the orders as set forth in sub-rule (1)
(a) to (f), the Court shall record its reasons for making such order.”
28. Apart from other orders that may be passed on an application for summary
judgment, Order XIIIA Rule 6(b) of the Code of Civil Procedure empowers the
Court to pass conditional orders in accordance with Rule 7. Rule 7 speaks of
the nature of conditional orders that may be passed by the Court. Rule 7 is
extracted hereinafter.
“7. Conditional order.—(1) Where it appears to the Court that it is
possible that a claim or defence may succeed but it is improbable that it
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shall do so, the Court may make a conditional order as set forth in Rule
6 (1) (b).
(2) Where the Court makes a conditional order, it may:—
(a) make it subject to all or any of the following conditions:—
(i) require a party to deposit a sum of money in the Court;
(ii) require a party to take a specified step in relation to the claim or
defence, as the case may be;
(iii) require a party, as the case may be, to give such security or provide
such surety for restitution of costs as the Court deems fit and proper;
(iv) impose such other conditions, including providing security for
restitution of losses that any party is likely to suffer during the
pendency of the suit, as the Court may deem fit in its discretion; and
(b) specify the consequences of the failure to comply with the conditional
order, including passing a judgment against the party that have not
complied with the conditional order.”
29. Order XIIIA has been inserted with an object of speedy disposal of a claim
pertaining to any Commercial Dispute by dispensing with the recording of
oral evidence.
30. Upon reading Order XIIIA as a whole, this Court is of the considered view
that the applicant apart from stating other facts has to precisely disclose all
material facts and identify the points of law, if any and in the event the
applicant seeks to rely upon any documentary evidence has to include such
documentary evidence in the application for summary judgment and identify
the relevant content of such documentary evidence on which the applicant
relies. The applicant must also state the reason why, according to the
applicant, there are no real prospects of defending the claim.
31. On the other hand, the party defending such application in its reply has to
precisely disclose all material facts, identify the points of law, if any and
state the reasons why the reliefs sought by the applicant should not be
granted. Such reply must also identify what further evidence will be brought
on record at the trial. The reply must also state why, in the light of the
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evidence or material on record, if any, the Court should not proceed to
summary judgment.
32. Thus, Order XIIIA allows the parties to put forward their respective cases as
well as the documentary evidence in support thereof.
33. If the Court after going through the application for summary judgment and
the reply thereto along with the documentary evidences produced by the
respective parties finds that the claim either in whole or a part thereof or
any particular question on which the claim depends can be decided on a
point of law and upon interpretation and construction of the documents
which forms the foundation of the claim and the Court is satisfied that all
the documentary evidences necessary for the purpose of adjudication of the
claim or any particular question on which the claim depends have been
produced to enable the Court to dispose of the claim wholly or in part before
recording of oral evidence and the defendant has no real prospect of
successfully defending the claim, the Court may give summ ary judgment
against the defendant.
34. The defendant cannot object to the passing of a summary judgment only on
the plea that further evidence will be brought on record at the time of trial
but in order to successfully resist the passing of a summary judgment, the
defendant must identify what further evidence will be brought on record at
the trial that could not be brought on record at the stage of summary
judgment and also state why, in the light of the evidence or materials on
record, the Court should not proceed to summary judgment.
35. Order XIIIA Rule 6(b) enables the Court to make a conditional order in
exercise of its discretion whether it appears to the Court that it is possible
that a claim may succeed.
36. The Court shall exercise its power under Order XIIIA of the Code of Civil
Procedure to decide a claim pertaining to a Commercial Dispute in
exceptional circumstances, only if the Court arrives at a conclusion that
recording of oral evidence is not necessary to decide the claim wholly or in
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part and the plaintiff has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim or the
defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim, as the
case may be.
37. Turning back to the facts of the case on hand, admittedly a lease deed was
executed by and between the petitioner and the opposite party.
38. It is not in dispute that the opposite party did not pay lease rent at the
rate(s) mentioned in the lease deed on and from April 2020.
39. Onset of Covid-19 pandemic and imposition of nationwide lockdown has
been set up as a ground for not making payment of lease rent at the rate(s)
specified in the lease deed. Such default, according to the petitioner,
amounted to “material breach” of the terms of the lease deed for which a
notice calling upon the opposite party to remedy the default was issued
clearly indicating therein that in case of failure to remedy such default the
lease shall stand terminated after the expiry of the further period as
indicated in the said notice.
40. The legality of a combined notice has been questioned by the opposite party
on the ground that the same is not in accordance with the terms of the lease
deed.
41. The reasons for the default in payment of lease rent at the rate mentioned in
the lease deed, according to the opposite party, falls within the Force
Majeure Clause which is disputed by the petitioner by contending that the
Force Majeure Clause shall be applicable only in case the demised premises
is wholly destroyed or damaged and not otherwise.
42. The jural relationship of lessor and lessee between the petitioner and
opposite party prior to the alleged determination of lease as well as the
service of notice dated 16.09.2020 are not in dispute.
43. This Court finds that the petitioner in the application for summary
judgment has disclosed all material facts and identified the point of law and
also produced documentary evidence in support of the claim made in such
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application. The opposite party in its reply has also disclosed the material
facts and identified the points of law. The opposite party has also placed
reliance upon some documentary evidences and sought for leave to produce
the bank statements and other documents at the time of hearing.
44. The learned Judge recorded that rent issues are to be decided on the basis
of documents at the stage of trial and for that purpose the defendant should
be permitted to rely on its bank documents during the hearing.
45. When the learned Judge of the Commercial Court was of the view that the
rent issues can be decided on the basis of documentary evidence and the
opposite party also in its affidavit-in-opposition sought for leave to produce
the bank accounts at the time of hearing, the learned Judge of the
Commercial Court ought to have returned a finding whether the opposite
party should be allowed to rely upon additional documentary evidences at
the time of hearing of the application for summary judgment instead of
dismissing the application and consequently relegating the matter to a full-
fledged trial even after formulating the points which are required to be
decided.
46. Petitioner has terminated the lease deed on the ground of alleged failure on
the part of the opposite party to rectify the default in payment of rent.
Whether the alleged default in payment of rent amounts to “material breach”
as defined in the lease deed requires an interpretation of the clauses of the
lease deed which was available in the records.
47. Whether a combined notice calling upon the opposite party to remedy the
“material breach” within a certain time with a further stipulation that the
lease shall stand terminated on failure to remedy the breach within a
further time limit is valid or not is a question of law which can be decided
upon construction of the relevant clauses of the lease deed, which is an
admitted document.
48. Whether imposition of lockdown due to onset of Covid 19 pandemic can be
said to be a Force Majeure event would also involve construction of the
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terms of the lease deed and the circulars that may have been issued by the
Government from time to time on such issue. Decision on such issue ma y
not also require recording of oral evidence.
49. As observed hereinbefore, Order XIIIA enables the parties to include
documentary evidence along with the application for summary judgment
and the reply filed thereto. It also enables the parties to produce additional
documentary evidences at the time of hearing. Order XIIIA only dispenses
with the recording of oral evidence in order to save time as well as to ensure
speedy disposal of commercial disputes.
50. The learned Judge while rejecting the application for summary judgment
has not recorded any finding as to why recording of oral evidence is
necessary for deciding the points formulated by the learned Judge. Order
XIIIA enables the Commercial Court to decide a claim or a part of the claim
on the basis of documentary evidence.
51. That apart the learned Judge of the Commercial Court even after observing
that the defendant cannot lounge and sit idle on the suit property without
payment of rent did not also consider whether a conditional order as
provided under Order XIIIA Rule 6(b) read with Rule 7 could not have been
passed.
52. Rule 6 of the Order XIIIA of the Code vests the Commercial Court with a
discretion to pass conditional orders. Such discretion has to be exercised in
a proper manner.
53. When a person in possession of an immovable property takes the shelter
under the lease deed to protect its possession, the Commercial Court, on an
application for summary judgment has to assign reasons as to why
conditional order as contemplated in Rule 6(b) read with Rule 7 of Order
XIIIA should not be passed in a given case.
54. This Court accordingly holds that the Commercial Court has a duty to
assign reasons even in cases where the Court is not inclined to pass any
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conditional order in view of the expression “makes any of the orders” used in
Order XIIIA Rule 6(2). Any contrary interpretation would frustrate the object
of Order XIIIA of the Code.
55. To the mind of this Court, the learned Judge of the Commercial Court, failed
to exercise its jurisdiction in a proper manner.
56. From the materials disclosed, it appears to this Court that the petitioner
determined the lease by forfeiture for alleged non-payment of rent.
57. At this stage, it would not be out of place to take note of the provisions of
the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 more particularly Section 114 thereof.
58. Mr. Mitra, learned Senior Counsel would contend that it was open to the
opposite party to take such recourse at the time of hearing of the application
for summary judgment. He submitted that since the opposite party chose
not to pay the arrear amount even in course of hearing of this civil revision
application, they are disentitled to such relief.
59. Per contra, the learned Advocate for the opposite party contended that it is
open to the opposite party to pray for such relief at the final stage of hearing
of the suit.
60. From the aforesaid submission of the learned advocates, a legal issue arises
whether in a claim pertaining to a Commercial Dispute, the expression “at
the hearing” appearing in Section 114 of the Transfer of Property Act would
imply “at the hearing of the application for summary judgment” also.
61. In view of the fact that the aforesaid legal issue was not raised before the
Commercial Court at the time of hearing of the application for summary
judgment this Court is not inclined to accept the submission of Mr. Mitra,
that the opposite party became disentitled to the aforesaid relief which they
may be entitled to as per law.
62. Though Mr. Mitra relied upon certain decisions in support of his aforesaid
contention, this Court refrains from making any comment at this stage on
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such legal issue as the opposite party has not yet claimed any relief under
Section 114 of the Transfer of Property Act. Such issue is left open to be
considered and decided at the appropriate stage.
63. As pointed out earlier that the opposite party sought to rely upon additional
documentary evidence at the time of hearing of the application for summary
judgment but such prayer was neither allowed nor rejected by the learned
Judge of the Commercial Court.
64. For all the reasons as aforesaid, this Court is of the considered view that the
impugned order is liable to be set aside and the learned Judge of the
Commercial Court should be directed to decide the application under Order
XIIIA of the Code afresh.
65. There is no quarrel to the proposition of law laid down in B. Premanand
(supra) that the first and foremost principle of interpretation of a statute is
the literal rule of interpretation and the other rules of interpretation namely
mischief rule, purposive interpretation etc. can be resorted to only when the
plain words of a statute are ambiguous or lead to no intelligible results or if
read literally would nullify the very object of the statute.
66. There is also no quarrel to the proposition of law laid down in Rajendra
Prasad Gupta (supra) that every procedure is to be understood as
permissible till it is shown to be prohibited by the law. In other words, as a
general principle, prohibition cannot be presumed.
67. This Court refrains from making any comment as to the app licability or
otherwise of the other decisions cited at the Bar, as this Court is inclined to
pass a direction upon the learned Judge, Commercial Court to decide the
application for summary judgment afresh.
68. The order impugned accordingly stands set aside . The application for
summary judgment stands restored to the file of the learned Judge,
Commercial Court. The learned Judge, Commercial Court is directed to
consider the application for summary judgment afresh and to dispose of the
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same by passing a reasoned order in the light of the observations made
hereinbefore after affording an opportunity to the parties to rely upon
additional documentary evidences, if any, during the hearing subject to
compliance of the requirements under Rule 5 of Order XIIIA of the Code of
Civil Procedure and an opportunity of hearing should also be given to the
respective parties. The entire exercise shall be completed as expeditiously as
possible but positively within a period of twelve working weeks from the
receipt of a server copy of this Order.
69. C.O. no. 1321 of 2025 stands allowed with the aforesaid directions. There
shall be, however, no order as to costs.
70. Urgent photostat certified copies, if applied for, be supplied to the parties
upon compliance of all formalities.
(HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA, J.)
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