FEDERAL BANK LIMITED Vs. P J THOMAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS unnumbered Regular First Appeal has been posted before the Bench along with the captioned connected appeal in view of the doubt raised by the registry regarding its maintainability.

(2.) APPELLANT is the plaintiff in O.S.No.490/1999 on the file of the Additional subordinate Judge's Court, Thiruvananthapuram. The said suit, which was instituted for realisation of money allegedly due from the respondents/defendants under a loan account, was decreed by the court below on December 18, 2003 when the defendants withdrew their contentions as endorsed by their counsel on the written statement. Half court fee was ordered to be refunded to the plaintiff.

(3.) SRI.Mohan Jacob George, learned counsel for the appellant, has placed reliance on a large number of decisions in support of his contentions raised in the two appeals. He points out that the respondents had not paid any court fee on the review petition. But still, the review petition was allowed without hearing the appellant/ plaintiff. Still further, when the court below took up the suit for consideration later, there should have been a proper application of mind before dismissing the suit for non prosecution in a very casual and lackadaisical manner. The impugned judgment being a dependent order, there is absolutely no legal infirmity or procedural irregularity in entertaining this appeal before this Court.