Summary
In a suit for specific performance, the plaintiffs sought under Order XVIII Rule 1 CPC to make the defendants lead evidence first. The Supreme Court upheld the refusal, as the defendants, while admitting the document, pleaded it was a sham and denied agreeing to sell. It added that the rule gives the plaintiff a right to begin but does not bind the court to call on the plaintiff first.
Issues
- Whether defendants who admit the existence of an agreement of sale but plead that it was a sham transaction admit the facts alleged by the plaintiff, so that they must begin under Order XVIII Rule 1 CPC.
- Whether Order XVIII Rule 1 CPC obliges the court to call upon the plaintiff to lead evidence first.
Provisions considered
- Order XVIII Rule 1, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908The rule gives the plaintiff the right to begin unless the defendant admits the plaintiff's facts and resists relief on law or additional facts. As the defendants called the agreement a sham and denied ever agreeing to sell, their pleading was not an admission of the material facts and the rule did not shift the right to begin. The Court added that the rule confers a right on the plaintiff, not an obligation on the court. (¶¶ 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18)
- Section 102, Indian Evidence Act, 1872The burden of proof lies on the party who would fail if no evidence were given on either side; where the defendant admits the plaintiff's facts but disputes entitlement to relief, the defendant gets the right to begin. (¶¶ 15, 16)
- Article 227, Constitution of IndiaThe High Court's refusal to interfere, under its supervisory jurisdiction, with the trial court's rejection of the plaintiffs' application was upheld. (¶¶ 7, 19)
Held
- Admitting the existence of a document called an agreement of sale, while pleading that it was a sham and that the defendants never agreed to sell, is not by itself an admission of the material facts alleged in the plaint; Order XVIII Rule 1 CPC therefore did not require the defendants to begin. (¶¶ 12, 13, 14)
- Ordinarily the plaintiff must prove the claim by positive proof, but may rest on the averments in the written statement or discharge the onus through cross-examination; who bears the legal burden depends on the substantive law, the pleadings, the documents produced and any admissions about them. (¶ 11)
- Order XVIII deals with the hearing of a suit, which is part of the trial, and deciding which party has the right to begin is an integral part of the hearing. (¶ 17)
- Order XVIII Rule 1 gives the plaintiff a right to begin but places no obligation on the court to ask the plaintiff to begin first. The court may call upon either party to lead evidence first depending on the facts and the issues framed, for example asking the defendant first to prove a plea that goes to the root of the case; neither party can insist that the other begin. (¶ 18)
Result
Special leave petition disposed of with observations; no interference with the High Court's order.