PREMA CHANDA Vs. PRAFULLA KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ application, the question which arises for consideration is as to whether an application for withdrawal of a suit itself can be withdrawn by the applicant.

(2.) The matter arises out of a house rent case. The petitioner is the tenant. Opposite Parties 1 and 2 had filed a case for eviction of the petitioner under S.7, Orissa House Rent Control Act, 1967, in the Court of the House Rent Controller, Jajpur, after having purchased the house from Khetrabasi Samant on 19-3-1984. Petitioner, after appearing in the proceeding, made an application for a direction to opposite parties 1 and 2 to produce the sale deed so as to enable him to take a proper defence. The Controller by his order dated 17-9-1986 rejected the prayer on certain reasons which are not relevant to be gone into. Against that order, the petitioner filed O.J.C. No. 2674 of 1986 in this Court for a direction to the landlords for production of the sale deed. In that case, in the counter affidavit the opposite parties stated that they had since already filed the document in the proceeding. In that view of the matter the writ application was disposed of by order dated 9-12-1986 with a direction to the petitioner to file written statement within three weeks.

(3.) During the pendency of the said writ application, on 27-10-1986 an application was filed by the landlords before the Controller for withdrawal of their case. The stand of the petitioner is that on that account there was no necessity to file any written statement as directed by this Court. On 2-1-1987, however, the landlords filed another application before the Controller stating that they do not want to pursue the application dated 27-10-1986 for withdrawal of the proceeding and the Controller by the impugned order dated 3-1-1987 (Annexure-1) allowed the proceeding to continue in spite of objections of the petitioner. The present writ application has, therefore, been filed by the petitioner-tenant. It has been stated that on the facts and circumstances mentioned above, the Controller was not justified in allowing the proceeding to continue any more in view of the withdrawal application of opposite parties 1 and 2.