Pachiammal vs The Village Administrative Officer

Court
Madras High Court

2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
RESERVED ON : 16-10-2026
PRONOUNCED ON : 26-10-2026
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE R.SAKTHIVEL
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
CNR:{HCMA012106152023}
Pachiammal
W/o. Selvaraj,
No.5/11B, Urigam Salai,
Anjetti Town and Taluk,
Krishnagiri District.
..Petitioner/
Plaintiff
Vs
1. The Village Administrative Officer
Anjetty.
2. The Revenue Inspector
Anjetty.
3. The Tahsildar
Anjetty.
4. The District Collector
Krishnagiri.
..Respondents/
Defendants
PRAYER in CRP No. 4548 of 2023:
Civil Revision Petition filed under Article 227 of the Constitution
of India, 1950, praying to set aside the docket order dated October 30, 2023
returning the unnumbered plaint in OS.No.136 of 2023 by the District Munsif,
Thenkanikottai and to direct the learned District Munsif Thenkanikottai to take
the plaint on the file and proceed further with the suit.
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
For Petitioner(s): Ms.S.Sridevi for Mr.R.Selvakumar
For Respondent(s): Mr.P.Sunil, Government Advocate
O R D E R
This Civil Revision Petition has been filed under Article 227 of the
Constitution of India, praying to set aside the Docket Order dated October 30,
2023 returning the unnumbered plaint in O.S. S.R. No.1360 of 2023 by 'the
District Munsif Court, Denkanikottai' ['Trial Court' for short] and to direct the
Trial Court to take the plaint on file and proceed further with the Suit.
2. According to the revision petitioner / plaintiff, the suit property is a
Government Poromboke land which has been under the enjoyment of the
revision petitioner / plaintiff and her predecessors-in-title for over 60 years
openly, continuously and uninterruptedly and thereby perfected her title by way
of adverse possession. While so, the third respondent / third defendant /
Tahsildar sent a notice under Section 7 of the Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment
Act, 1905 [Tamil Nadu Act No.III of 1905] calling upon the plaintiff's husband
to vacate the suit property. In these circumstances, the revision petitioner /
plaintiff presented the plaint on June 2, 2023 seeking the reliefs of declaration
of title by way of adverse possession and permanent injunction in respect of the
suit property. The same was returned by the Trial Court on the same day stating
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
that the Suit is barred under Section 14 of the Tamil Nadu Act No.III of 1905.
The plaint was represented by the revision petitioner / plaintiff on October 30,
2023 with the following remarks:
"Represented, as per citation (i) Andhra High Court -
Addanki Adi Lakshmamma and Ors. vs. District Collector
and Ors. (2007) and (ii) P.Ganesan vs. Commissioner and
Ors., Madurai Bench, Madras High Court dated
04.10.2023, this Suit is maintainable. So may be
numbered."
3. Upon representation, the Trial Court again returned the plaint with the
following observation:
"Previous return holds good. The notice issued u/s 7 of the
Land Encroachment Act, 1905 and hence proceedings have
commenced under the 1905 Act. Once the proceedings have
commenced as evidenced by the notice dated 7.2.2023
produced by the Plaintiff, the jurisdiction of the Civil Court is
specifically barred u/s 14 of the TN Land Encroachment Act,
1905. The same has been clearly reiterated by the honourable
High Court of Madras in The State of Tamilnadu Vs J.
Venkatachalam, reported in 2018 LW (5) 234. Hence the suit
being not maintainable, the same is returned. "
4. Feeling aggrieved by the same, the present Civil Revision Petition has
been filed by the revision petitioner / plaintiff.
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
5. Learned Counsel for the revision petitioner would submit that the
plaint was presented seeking the reliefs of declaration of title by way of adverse
possession and permanent injunction. The revision petitioner / plaintiff did not
assail or question the notice issued by the third respondent under the Tamil
Nadu Act No.III of 1905 nor the proceedings initiated thereunder. The Trial
Court failed to consider the said aspect and erred in returning the plaint on the
ground that the Suit is barred under the Tamil Nadu Act No.III of 1905, that too
without numbering the plaint. Accordingly, he would pray to allow the Civil
Revision Petition, set aside the Docket Order dated October 30, 2023 returning
the unnumbered plaint in O.S. S.R. No.1360 of 2023 and direct the Trial Court
to take the plaint on file.
6. On the other hand, learned Government Advocate for the respondents /
defendants would invite attention to Paragraph No.11 of the plaint and submit
that the revision petitioner / plaintiff has herself admitted that she has been
paying penal charges [ ]. Hence, the revision petitioner's
jz;lj;jPh;it
possession never turned adverse to the Government. Therefore, the plaint has no
legs to stand and the revision petitioner / plaintiff has no cause of action. Further
he would submit that, the plaint was presented after issuance of notice under
Section 14 of the Tamil Nadu Act No.III of 1905. Though there is no challenge
to the said notice and the plaint prayer is for declaration of title and permanent
injunction, the revision petitioner is in effect challenging the said notice.
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
Hence, the Suit is barred under the said Act. The Trial Court appreciated the
facts of the case in the right perspective and rightly returned the plaint.
Accordingly, he would pray to dismiss the Civil Revision Petition as devoid of
merits.
7. Heard on either side. Perused the materials available on record.
8. On bare perusal of the plaint prayer, the revision petitioner / plaintiff
has not challenged the notice issued or the proceedings initiated under Tamil
Nadu Act No.III of 1905. Hence, the bar under Section 14 of the said Act does
not act as an obstacle in numbering the plaint. In any case, if the Trial Court is
of the prima facie view that the Suit is not maintainable for any valid reason, the
Trial Court ought to number the plaint and post the matter under the caption of
maintainability. Only upon numbering the plaint and hearing the plaintiff qua
maintainability in Open Court, the Trial Court shall decide on the
maintainability of the plaint and not otherwise. In the present case, the
procedure adopted by the Trial Court in returning the plaint without numbering
it, that too when the plaint was re-presented once again with case laws cited in
support of its maintainability, is erroneous and not justifiable. In this regard,
reference may be made to the Order of this Court in Government of Tamil
Nadu -vs- Ponnusamy , reported in 2026 SCC OnLine Mad 767 . Relevant
extract reads as hereunder:
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
" 16. Further, if a Court on demurrer sees that the Suit is barred
by limitation or by any law in force at the time of scrutinising
the plaint, the Court shall assign Suit number to the plaint,
register the same in the Suit Register and post the matter under
the cause list caption 'for hearing on maintainability'. After
hearing the plaintiffs' side in open court and after perusing the
plaint and the plaint documents, if the Trial Court is not
convinced, it may pass an Order under Order VII Rule 11 of
CPC rejecting the plaint. In such a course, the Trial Court
would be passing a Fair and Decretal Order, the result of the
Suit would be entered in the Suit Register and the same would
be updated in the E-Courts portal as well. On the other hand,
when the Trial Court chooses to pass an Order without
numbering the plaint, it would be difficult to even ascertain the
status of the matter or locate the case bundle at a later point of
time when the matter is in appeal before the Appellate Court.
Further, once a plaint is rejected, the rejection order is deemed
to be a Decree as per the definition of Decree in Section 2 (2)
of CPC. This requires the Trial Court to draw a formal Decree /
Decretal Order upon rejecting plaint; in the absence of a
formal Decree / Decretal Order, there would be no appeal
possible under Section 96 of CPC. In such a case, the plaint
could only be in the case bundle for which numbering the plaint
is essential. The possibility of unnumbered suit files being
misplaced either inadvertently, or deliberately with the
intention of erasing the traces of filing and Court's decision,
cannot be ignored. The absence of a suit number renders the
proceedings susceptible to irregularities and tampering. All
these could be avoided by numbering the Suit."
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
9. In the result, in view of the foregoing narrative, this Court sets aside
the Trial Court's Docket Order dated October 30, 2023 returning the
unnumbered plaint in O.S. S.R. No.1360 of 2023. The revision petitioner /
plaintiff may represent the plaint once again within 30 days from today and in
such an event, the Trial Court shall number the plaint and post the matter under
the caption "for hearing on maintainability", and upon the hearing the revision
petitioner / plaintiff in the Open Court qua maintainability, the Trial Court shall
decide on the maintainability of the plaint on its own merits untrammelled by
any observation made by this Court on merits of the case. The Civil Revision
Petition is allowed with the above observation. In view of the facts and
circumstances of this case, there shall be no order as to costs.
10. Registry is hereby directed to return the original plaint annexed in the
typed set of papers to the learned Counsel for the revision petitioner so as to
enable the revision petitioner to represent the same before the Trial Court.
26-10-2026
Index: Yes
Speaking order
Neutral Citation: Yes
JRS
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
To
1. The Village Administrative Officer
Anjetty.
2. The Revenue Inspector
Anjetty.
3. The Tahsildar
Anjetty.
4. The District Collector
Krishnagiri.
5. The District Munsif Thenkanikottai.
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2026:MHC:4308
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
R.SAKTHIVEL J.
JRS
CRP No. 4548 of 2023
26-10-2026
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