Full Judgment
P.K. Tripathy, J.
1.Plaintiff in Title Suit No. 65 of 1992 of the Court of 2nd Addl. Civil Judge (Sr. Division), Cuttack has preferred this revision against the order passed on 17.8.2000 in allowing amendment of the written statement of the defendants/opposite parties for introducing a counter claim in accordance with the provision under Order 8, Rule 6-A, CPC.
2. As noted in the impugned order, plaintiff has filed the suit for right, title, interest and possession on the basis of his claim of adverse possession over the suit house which the defendants claim to have purchased from the true owner along with the adjoining premises, The purchaser/ defendants have filed their written statement disputing to the claim of right, title, interest and possession advanced by the plaintiff. They have also pleaded that by sheer use of force plaintiff has tried to interfere with the possession of the purchaser-defendants. While the matter stood thus, on 8.3. 2000 defendants filed application for amendment of the written statement to set up their counter claim under Order 8. Rule 6-A, CPC claiming the relief of possession for the adjoining premises of the suit house. According to the facts noted in the impugned order, to avoid multiplicity of litigations with respect to said vacant premises such dispute should be adjudicated in the same suit, and that is how learned Civil Judge (Sr. Division) allowed the application entertaining the counter claim. The application was allowed subject to payment of cost of Rs. 200/- (two hundred).
3. Looking to the nature of the order and relevant provision of law in that respect and the principle of equity, this Court finds no jurisdictional error or illegality having been committed by the Court below in allowing the application, but when the suit is of the year 1992 a belated action by the defendants in the year 2000 should have been properly considered to adequately compensate the plaintiff for the harassment which he is to suffer and the written statement which is required to be filed on such a counter claim. Therefore, the impugned order is made operative subject to payment of cost of Rs. 1500/- (fifteen hundreds) by the defendants to the plaintiff within a period of three weeks from today. If the cost shall be paid, then the amendment shall be carried into effect and thereafter defendants be directed by the Court below to deposit the Court-fees on such counter claim within a stipulated period which shall not exceed a period of one month. Similarly, the plaintiff be also directed to file his written statement, if any, to that counter claim within a further period which shall not be beyond a period of one month from the date of payment of the court fees. The Court below shall try to dispose of the suit expeditiously keeping in view that the suit is already over 10 years old.
The Civil Revision is disposed of accordingly.