M V SUNDARESA AIYAR FOR HIMSELF AND AS OFFICIAL RECEIVER OF THE ESTATE OF PAKALA VENKATA RAO Vs. PAKALA SUBBA RAO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Subordinate Judge has restored an application to restore a suit after that application was itself time-barred. He seems to have thought that when the defendant had acquired the right by operation of the law of limitation to claim that the litigation against him should cease, the Court has an inherent power to deprive the defendant of that right, and to order the litigation to proceed.

(2.) Obviously Section 151 never confers any such power upon a Court - a power for the ends of injustice and to promote abuse of the process of the Court. The defendant after the plaintiff has exhausted his statutory limit of time clearly has justice on his side and the Court has no right to interfere in order to override a lawful bar of limitation.

(3.) The petition is allowed with costs throughout and the Lower Court's order is cancelled.