In Brief
Ayan Chatterjee, a defendant, challenged a High Court order directing the lodging of a criminal complaint against him for alleged document fabrication in a pending civil tenancy suit. The Supreme Court held that findings made in interlocutory injunction proceedings are prima facie in nature and confined to those proceedings alone. They do not prejudice the trial court's decision on the suit's merits, which must be decided solely on the pleadings and evidence adduced by the parties. The Court remitted the case for the trial court to decide on merits, uninfluenced by earlier findings, and stayed the implementation of the criminal complaint direction pending the suit's outcome.
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