Interim Order 19

Order Details: COPY OF ORDER
Pdf Text: CS No. 282/21
Major General Retd W.S.Chona Vsm Vs.
Anand Niketan Resident Welfare Association Regd. & Anr.
09.05.2025
Present: Plaintiff with counsel Sh. Rachit Gupta.
Sh. Rajiv Vig, Counsel for the defendants.
Further arguments on the application under Order 6
Rule 17 CPC moved by the plaintiff heard.
ORDER: -
1. By way of this application, the plaintiff is seeking
amendment in the plaint stating that the plaint is not very
happily worded as due to inadvertence, certain material
facts and documentary evidence has been left out. As such,
the plaintiff wants to elaborate and add some paras given
at page 21 and 22 of the plaint.
2. The plaintiff wants to add para no. 3 regarding the
membership, eligibility criteria and rules and regulations
of Anand Niketan Resident Welfare Association. The
plaintiff further wants to delete para no. 11 to 13 as
existing now and wants to substitute the same with new
para 11 stating that the termination letter dated 23.04.2021
based on the basis of resolution dated 14.03.2021 is totally
illegal and unlawful and also by enumerating the grounds.
The plaintiff further wants to substitute para no. 16 and 17
to the effect that the resolution dated 14.03.2021 passed in
AGM and consequently letter dated 23.04.2021
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terminating the membership of the plaintiff is contrary to
law and further that the said show cause notice has harmed
the reputation of the plaintiff for which he is claiming
damages of Rs. 10 lakhs. The plaintiff is also seeking
amendment in the prayer clause by seeking decree of
declaration declaring the resolution dated 14.03.2021 by
which he was directed to withdraw all cases and
consequent thereto letter dated 23.04.2021 terminating his
membership from Anand Niketan Resident Welfare
Association as null and void. It is stated that the suit is at
the preliminary stage and even issues have yet not been
framed and, therefore, the plaintiff is entitled to amend the
plaint for just adjudication of the disputes raised by him.
3. The defendants have contested the application by
filing reply thereto contending that earlier also the plaintiff
filed similar application which was withdrawn and by way
of present application the plaintiff is trying to improve his
case and also trying to change the nature of his original
case by raising new issues. It is further contended that in
the garb of present application, the plaintiff is trying to
introduce the facts and issues which are already subject
matter of another civil suit between the parties. It is further
contended that the plaintiff is trying to incorporate the
facts and claims which have become time barred. It is
further contended that the plaintiff has moved the present
application to delay the disposal of his own suit. It is stated
that in the General Body dated 14.03.2021, on the
intervention of some members of RWA, the defendant had
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agreed to settle the dispute and withdraw the termination
notice provided that the plaintiff withdrew all cases against
the RWA as reciprocal gesture, however, the plaintiff
refused to agree to do that. It is a matter of record that one
of the members sought permission of the General Body to
give him 7 days to convince the plaintiff for mutual and
reasonable settlement failing which termination of the
plaintiff has to stand and this was unanimously agreed by
the members of General Body but all the efforts of the
mediator failed due to rigid stand of the plaintiff. It is
contended that due to malafide intention, the plaintiff is
wrongly relying upon outdated rules and regulations of
2014 despite knowing that defendant RWA has amended
the rules and regulations upto April 2018 on 09.08.2018. It
is further contended that the plaintiff has not disclosed that
which rules and regulations were not followed by the
defendant. It is further contended that the defendant no. 1
RWA was competent to terminate the membership of the
plaintiff. The defendants have denied the other contents of
the application and have prayed for dismissal of the
application.
4. The plaintiff has filed rejoinder to reply to the
application under Order 6 Rule 17 CPC reiterating the
averments made in the application and denying the
averments made in the reply to the application.
5. Perusal of the record shows that the plaintiff has
filed the present suit against the defendants for declaration,
mandatory and permanent injunction and recovery of
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damages of Rs. 10 lakhs. The plaintiff who is the one of
the life members of the defendant no. 1 association is
aggrieved by the letter dated 23.04.2021 whereby his
membership from defendant no. 1/RWA was terminated.
The plaintiff has alleged that in the AGM held on
14.03.2021, the defendant had passed arbitrary and illegal
resolution directing the plaintiff to withdraw all the cases
filed by him against the defendant and to give an
undertaking within 7 days for withdrawing all the
complaints and cases and on failure of doing so the
membership of the plaintiff was terminated vide letter
dated 23.04.2021. Thus, the plaintiff has filed the present
suit seeking decree of declaration that the letter dated
23.04.2021 canceling his membership of RWA/defendant
no. 1 as null and void; decree of mandatory injunction
directing the defendant to restore his membership; decree
of permanent injunction to restrain the defendant from
acting upon the letter dated 23.04.2021 and decree for a
sum of Rs. 10 lakhs for damages.
6. The defendants have contested the suit by filing
written statement to which replication was also filed.
7. Perusal of the record further reveals that the plaintiff
has pressed for interim application for grant of interim
relief to stay the operation of the letter dated 23.04.2021.
The said relief was declined vide order dated 06.08.2021
and this Court observed that the plaintiff has not
impugned the minutes of General Body meeting dated
14.03.2021 whereby his membership was terminated
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besides the other facts that there was no prima facie case
because the plaintiff himself has formed another
association which itself tantamount to acting prejudicially
to the interest of the defendant association.
8. By way of present application, the plaintiff is
seeking to elaborate the facts by adding some new paras
and deleting the existing paras. The plaintiff is seeking to
incorporate the rules and regulations of defendant
association to show that the defendant no. 1 cannot
terminate the membership of the plaintiff without
following its rules and regulations and further to seek the
declaration of the resolution dated 14.03.2021 by virtue of
which he was directed to withdraw all cases and
consequent letter dated 23.04.2021 by which his
membership was terminated as null and void.
9. The defendants have contended that the above
amendments shall change the nature of the suit. However, I
do not find any merit in this contention of the defendants
because in the original plaint, the plaintiff is seeking the
declaration of the termination letter dated 23.04.2021 as
null and void and by way of proposed amendments also
the plaintiff is seeking the resolution dated 14.03.2021 on
the basis of which termination letter dated 23.04.2021 is
based as null and void. The plaintiff is still seeking the
same prayer of declaration, permanent and mandatory
injunction as well as damages and proposed amendments
will not change the nature of the suit.
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10. So far as the objections of the defendants that the
plaintiff is relying upon the rules and regulations which
have been amended and not applicable and that the
defendant no. 1 is competent to terminate the membership
of the plaintiff, are concerned, it is a settled law that at the
stage of deciding the amendment application, the merits of
the amendments are not to be looked into and evaluated.
The plaintiff is seeking to incorporate the rules and
regulations in the plaint to establish his case that his
termination of membership was contrary to the rules and
regulations of the defendant no 1 society. The questions as
to whether the defendant no 1 was competent to terminate
the membership of the plaintiff or not and as to whether
the rules and regulations which are sought to be relied
upon by the plaintiff are not applicable since have been
amended are matter of trial and cannot be decided at this
stage.
11. The case is at the initial stage and even the issues
have not been framed and the proposed amendments are in
the nature of elaborating the facts and incorporation of the
rules and regulations of the defendant no. 1 and further
prayer clause regarding declaration of resolution dated
14.03.2021 as null and void cannot be said to be changing
the nature of the suit or that any prejudice shall be caused
to the defendants. Further, the proposed amendments are
necessary for the purpose of determining the real question
in controversy between the parties. Therefore, the
application is allowed, however, subject to cost of
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Rs. 5,000/- payable to the defendants.
12. Now to come up for payment of cost by the plaintiff,
WS to the amended plaint with advance copy to the
Counsel for the plaintiff to which replication may be filed
and for arguments on the application under Order 1 Rule
10 CPC on 11.07.2025.
(Balwant Rai Bansal)
District Judge-05, NDD,
PHC/ND/09.05.2025
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