Publication To Serve Notice Can't Be Issued Ordinarily By Appellate Court In Second Appeal, Parties Must Mention Correct Address: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that publication to serve notice in the second appeal cannot be ordinarily issued by the appellate Court.

Accordingly, it directed the High Court registry to ensure that the name, description, place of residence and other details are clearly mentioned in the plaint and in the Interlocutory applications filed by the plaintiff(s) and the defendant(s) before the Courts.

It also directed that the registry shall ensure that mobile numbers/phone numbers/ email addresses are mentioned and a copy of the self attested Aadhar card is enclosed along with the case papers and documents at the time of filing.

Justice S.M Subramaniam made the above orders in a petition filed to permit the petitioner to bring on record the proposed appellants as the legal heirs of the deceased second appellant. Seeing that the notice was not served yet and submission of the petitioner seeking paper publication, the court discussed in detail the state of affairs due to non production of proper addresses in the plaint.

The court stated that the lawyers appearing before the trial courts do not furnish the correct address and such insufficient address is routinely repeated in the second appeal proceedings also.

"Many miscellaneous petitions for impleadment or for other relief in the second appeals are kept pending for many number of years. Even the miscellaneous petitions are pending for years together for want of service of notice. This system is being continued. This Court is of the considered opinion that the litigant will lose faith in the justice delivery system and the Courts are expected to thrive hard for early disposal of these civil disputes as far as possible. The fact remains that the second appeals are kept pending for many years, without even serving notice to the opposite parties or kept pending at the miscellaneous petitions stages or for want of disposal of such miscellaneous petitions. All such circumstances are to be improved by serving notices to all the parties in a quick manner, by mentioning the correct address and particulars of the parties.", the court further remarked.

The court also drew attention to Order 7 & Rule 1 of Civil Procedure Code which clearly states the particulars to be contained in the plaint including the name, description, and place of residence of the plaintiff and the defendant. The motive behind including this provision is to ensure that the plaintiff and defendant are described in a clear and legible manner for the purpose of serving notice both by the parties as well as the courts.

"In many second appeals and miscellaneous petitions, notices are not served to the opposite parties for years together for want of correct name and address of the parties. All such errors and mistakes are to be complied with by the litigant concerned at the time of numbering the case before the Registry by complying with the mandatory procedures contemplated under Order VII of the Code of Civil Procedures, 1908."

Case Name: Kamala v. Murugesan and Anr

Case No: C.M.P(MD) No. 1048 of 2022 in SA(MD) No. 19 of 2020

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 138

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