In Brief
A landlord sought to evict a tenant for unauthorized construction of permanent structures on the rented premises. The earlier suit for injunction was dismissed based on Order 2 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (res judicata principle). The Supreme Court held that to invoke Order 2 Rule 2, the defendant must prove the previous suit's plaint on record through evidence—not infer it. Since the prior plaint was not proved, that bar could not apply. The Court remitted the eviction suit to the High Court to decide the substantive merits: whether the tenant had erected structures without consent, as required by the Rent Control Act.
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