Madras HC: Article 227 Cannot Be Used to Summarily Throw Out Plaint
- rit arora
- Aug 11
- 2 min read
By Lex horizon
The Hon’ble High Court of Madras, in CRP. PD. No.2704 of 2024, vide its judgment dated 01.08.2025, held that a plaint cannot be summarily thrown out by invoking the extraordinary powers under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.
The Court noted that the Writ Courts had, on two earlier occasions, held that the issue of title must be adjudicated by the Civil Court and had directed the parties to work out their remedies in the pending civil proceedings. In this backdrop, the Court found it difficult to appreciate how a writ petition seeking to strike off the plaint could be maintainable.
By two separate orders, the Court had already taken note of the pendency of the civil suit and had held that it must be tried on its own merits. Another significant reason for refusing to entertain the writ petition was the plaintiff’s specific averment in the plaint that he had been in continuous physical possession of the property since the date of purchase, had evicted tenants, applied for demolition and reconstruction, and even obtained sanction for the same.
The Court further observed that, along with the relief of declaration, the plaintiff had also sought permanent injunctions restraining the defendants from interfering with his possession or in any manner alienating or encumbering the suit property. Emphasizing that a plaint cannot be dissected and dismissed in parts—particularly when the alleged cause of action is claimed to be an abuse of process—the Court held that the matter must proceed to trial.
