Karnataka HC Orders Two Trusts To Maintain Status Quo Over 2 Acres 37 Guntas While Suit Tests Whether Land Was Surrendered

The plaintiffs/respondents filed O.S. No. 263/2021 seeking a permanent injunction concerning Sy. No. 21, measuring 2 acres 37 guntas, and access through Sy. No. 22.

The Trial Court rejected their application for temporary injunction under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 CPC.

On appeal, the First Appellate Court set aside that order and granted interim protection.

The defendants/petitioners challenged the appellate order under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

The parties disputed whether Sy. No. 21 had been included in an earlier lease and whether possession had been returned or impliedly surrendered when a later lease was executed.

The High Court had stayed the appellate order during the writ proceedings.

The application for temporary injunction had been made under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and the writ petition invoked Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

The Court’s stated approach was to leave disputed questions of possession and implied surrender for determination by the Trial Court, avoid expressing an opinion on the merits, and preserve the property’s position pending that determination by directing status quo.

The Court noted that resolving the parties’ competing claims about surrender or continued possession of Sy. No. 21 could affect the Trial Court’s adjudication of the suit.

Rather than decide that factual dispute in the writ proceedings, it kept the parties’ contentions open and considered a status quo direction appropriate to meet the ends of justice while the suit remained pending.

The parties may seek expeditious disposal; if requested, the Trial Court is to consider disposal at the earliest, preferably within six months.

All contentions remain open, and the High Court expressed no opinion on the merits.