AYUSHAKTI AYURVED PVT LTD Vs. HINDUSTAN UNILIVER LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This reference before the Division Bench arises from an order dated 4 July 2012 of a learned Single Judge, Hon'ble Mr. Justice B.R.Gavai. On 16 September 2011, an order was passed by Shri

(2.) Mr. Justice S.C.Dharmadhikari recalled the orders passed by the earlier learned Single Judge. One of them was an order dated 7 May 2012 in Suit No.2064 of 2005, which reads as follows :

(3.) Mr. Justice S.J.Vazifdar, while appointing a Commissioner to record the evidence, allowed the parties to tender documents before the Commissioner and to raise their objections to the admissibility of the documents before the Commissioner. The learned Judge kept the objections of the parties to the admissibility of the documents open till the final hearing of the suit and permitted the parties to crossexamine the witnesses without prejudice to those objections. Mr. Justice S.C.Dharmadhikari while recalling those orders, appears to have taken the view that objections as to admissibility of the documents must be decided in the first instance by the learned Trial Judge before referring the suit to a Commissioner for recording evidence. When the present suit came up before Mr. Justice B.R.Gavai, the learned Judge was of the view that the observations of Mr.Justice S.C.Dharmadhikari in the order dated 7 May 2012 in Suit No.2064 of 2005 and in similar orders recalling the earlier orders of Mr. Justice S.J.Vazifdar on the ground that those orders were per incuriam, were not correct. In the circumstances, the learned Single Judge directed that the papers be placed before the Hon'ble Chief Justice for referring the matter to the Division Bench or to a Larger Bench.