In Brief
A plaintiff sued a company and its directors for recovery of dues and TDS-related reliefs. The trial court rejected the plaint against the directors under Order VII Rule 11 CPC, finding it disclosed no cause of action against them but allowed the suit against the company. The Supreme Court held that a plaint cannot be partially rejected under Order VII Rule 11—the rule applies only to the plaint as a whole. Where a cause of action is disclosed against some defendants, the suit must proceed against them, even if not against others. Partial striking out requires Order VI Rule 16 with specific grounds. The Court set aside the trial court's judgment and allowed the defendants eight weeks to file their written statement.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.