### Appellant Voluntarily Withdraws Appeal Under Instructions, Resulting in Summary Dismissal as Withdrawn

The Appellant, Sitabai @ Kumari Bai (Defendant No. 1 in the original suit), filed a Miscellaneous Appeal before the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur.

The Appellant is the 97-year-old daughter of Late Jadurai Singh; the appeal title corrected a clerical error in the impugned order which had wrongly identified her as the wife of Jadurai Singh.

During the pendency of the proceedings, the Appellant’s counsel received specific instructions to withdraw the appeal.

1. Whether the Appellant should be permitted to withdraw the Miscellaneous Appeal based on voluntary instructions provided to her counsel.

The Court applied the procedural principle of dominus litis, which allows an appellant the inherent right to withdraw their litigation at any stage before a decision on merits, provided such withdrawal is voluntary.

This is generally governed by the principles enshrined in Order XXIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, which permits a plaintiff (or appellant in appellate proceedings) to abandon their claim or withdraw their suit/appeal.

The Court’s reasoning was centered on the statement made by the Appellant’s counsel.

The counsel for the Appellant explicitly placed on record that he had received instructions directly from the client to withdraw the matter.

Since the prayer for withdrawal was made prior to the commencement of arguments on merits and originated from the Appellant herself, the Court found no legal impediment to granting the request.

The Court accepted the statement of the counsel as a valid basis for disposal without further inquiry into the underlying merits of the dispute between the twenty-two respondents.

Consequently, the High Court held that the Miscellaneous Appeal stands dismissed as withdrawn.

No further relief or directions were granted to any of the parties.