RES SUBJUDICE AND ITS APPLICATION

INTRODUCTION  

RES SUBJUDICE is the main fundamental doctrine in the field of law that helps to prevent  misuse of judicial resources protecting parties from repeated litigation and promoting  consistency in judicial decisions. The significance of the ‘doctrine of Res Subjudice’ is to  avoid a multiplicity of suits and conflicts of judgments before the court of competent  jurisdiction. Indian judiciary is already burdened with several pending cases and faces a lack  of resources to deal with them. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid a multiplicity of  proceedings through the use of this doctrine and to correct the redundancy of suits and  frivolous litigation.

MEANING  

The Latin term RES SUBJUDICE is derived from RES means every object of right that is  used as subject matter in a particular case and SUBJUDICE means not yet judicially decided.  In simple terms, it means the case is pending and has not given any judgment.

This doctrine is codified in Section 10 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 known as a stay of  the suit which states that  “No court shall proceed with the trial of any suit in which the matter in issue is also directly  and substantially in issue in a previously instituted suit between the same parties or between  parties under whom they or any of them claim, litigating under the same title, where such suit  is pending in the same or any other court in India having jurisdiction to grant the relief  claimed or in any court beyond the limits of India established or constituted by the central  government and having like jurisdiction, or before the supreme court” In simple terms, no court is allowed to entertain any case that is pending in one court with the same parties, subject matter, and issue.

ESSENTIAL CONDITION  

The essential conditions that are required to be fulfilled to come under the purview of this  doctrine are

1. There must be two suits, one is previously instituted and the other subsequently instituted.
2. The matter contested in the subsequent suit must be directly and substantially in issue in the prior suit.
3. The suit must be between the same parties.
4. The previously instituted suit must be pending in the same court in which a subsequent suit is brought by another court in India.
5. The court in which the previous suit is instituted must have the jurisdiction to grant the relief claimed in a subsequent suit.

Nature and scope  

This doctrine applies to ongoing cases which helps to stop filling one case in two different  courts. This rule is placed to avoid having many cases on the same subject matter. It also  prevents the person who files the case in two different courts.

The main purpose is to avoid two parallel litigations with the same subject matter. This helps  in ensuring consistency and judicial process. The main policy is to make sure that the  person who files a case gets help through one legal process, so it doesn’t create any conflict  between the parties.

ILLUSTRATION

A files a suit against B to establish his ownership of a property in court X and this suit is  pending. B files a suit in court Y against A for the possession of property, stating that he is  the true owner. Hence the trial in Court Y will stay under the principle of RES SUBJUDICE until Court X decides the property ownership matter in the first suit.

Legal judgement  

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Science v. C Parameshwara(2005 SC): Fact C. Parameshwara was a senior pharmacist at the National Institute of Mental health and  Neuro Science and was removed from his job after being accused of misappropriating a  drug worth 1,80,000

 NIMHANS ordered him to reimburse the amount but he failed to do so consequently  NIMHANS filed a civil suit in Bangalore civil court in 1995. Parameshwara raised an  industrial dispute and th labour court ruled in his faor setting his removal still NIMHANS  challenged this labour court order by filling a writ petition in the Karnataka high court under  article 226 which put a stay on labour court judgement.

In 2003, parameshwara filed an application under section 10 with section 151 of the CPC,  seeking to stay on civil suit until the writ petition was resolved. The civil court rejected the  application, leading to file a revision petition under section 115 CPC.

JUDGMENT 

Section 10 of the CPC is intended to prevent the same court from handling parallel lawsuits  about the same subject matter to avoid conflict judgments. Res Subjudice is applies only  when the matter is the same and not merely incidental.

In this case, the civil suit and the labour court proceedings were separate with different  subject matters.The proceeding before the labour court cannot be compared to the  proceeding before the civil court as section 10 CPC is the only applicable suit brought in a  civil court. The matters brought in civil court is completely indifferent and unrelated to the  lawsuit filed in labour court.

Maharashtra State Co-Operative Vs Indian Bank

Under the case, the issue was whether the doctrine of Res Subjudice would apply to summary  suit under order XXXVIII of the Code of Civil Procedure,1908. In this case, the part filed  for summary suit for recovery of the money of a particular amount. Again the other party  filed a case to object the same suit as the matter was directly and essential the same in a  previously launched between the parties so the court held that when the matter is going on in one court, there should not be any another case with similar matter.

Exception  

• Section 10 addresses the trial of suits but does not extend to appeals or revision of the case.
• This doctrine states that there is no bar on the power of an Indian court to try a  subsequently instituted suit if the previously instituted suit is pending in a foreign  court.
• This doctrine in not apply when a civil court has inherent power under section 151 to  stay a suit to achieve the ends of justice. Similarly, a court has inherent power to  consolidate different suits between the same parties in which the matter in issue is  substantially the same.

Conclusion  

Ample cases are pending in the legal process, it is necessary to apply Res Subjudice to  reduce cases on similar matters strictly. The main objective is to avoid multiple suits and to  save time. This doctrine requires precise alignment with its stringent conditions, which calls  for careful judicial consideration to balance the principles of justice, efficiency, and legal  consistency.

REFERENCE(S):

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sub%20judice

https://lawfoyer.in/meaning-definition-explanation-of-res-sub-judice/ http://student.manupatra.com/Academic/Abk/Code-of-Civil-Procedure/Chapter4.htm C.K Takwani \civil procedure\eastern book company\ fifth edition