TAMIL NADU CEMENTS LTD Vs. BALAKRISHNAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) . This civil revision petition is directed against the fair and decretal order dated 4. 2. 2000 made ini. A. No. 1 176 of 1999 in O. S. No. 366 of 1999 by the Court of District Munsif , Virudhunagar.

(2.) TRACING the history of the above civil revision petition coming to be filed, it comes to be known that the petitioner herein viz. , Tamil Nadu Cements Limited, Alangulam , which is the first defendant in the suit filed by the respondents herein, has filed a petition in I. A. No. 1176 of 1999 before the lower Court under Order 14, rule 2 (a) and Section 151 of the C. P. C. thereby challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court in entertaining the suit on ground that the suit property locates outside the jurisdiction of he trial court i. e. at Sivakasi and therefore the right place to file the suit is either the court of District Munsif or the Court of Subordinate Judge, Sivakasi depending upon the pecuniary jurisdiction but not the court of District Munsif , Virudhunagar as the plaintiffs have chosen to file their suit in the case in hand. On such allegations, the petitioner herein has prayed the lower Court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction for the court of District Munsif , Virudhunagar.

(3.) NOW, the duty of the court in the case in hand is to find out whether the suit of the nature as one in hand would fall under any one of the categories mentioned in Section 16 (a) to (f) of C. P. C. , in which event the suit could be filed only in the court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the property situates that is at Sivakasi or would the same falls under the proviso to Section 16 under which either it could be filed in the court at Sivakasi or at Virudhunagar and whether the plaintiff is right in choosing Virudhunagar in preference to Sivakasi since according to him it is Virudhunagar where the defendant voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain. In the case in hand, the plaintiffs have chosen the place that is mentioned in the proviso to section 16 discarding the court within whose jurisdiction the suit property situates.