Published on: 30 October 2022 at 12:10 IST
Court – Supreme Court of India
Citation – Abdul Hamid Shamsi v/s Abdul Majid (1988) 2 SCC 575
Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has held that valuation put by the plaintiff on the plaint must not be arbitrary and unacceptable. It is held that the trial court should examining the issue of valuation based after taking consideration of the statement in the plaint that the plaintiff.
It is held that if the trial court comes to the conclusion that the tentative valuation of the suit would be beyond its pecuniary jurisdiction, it shall pass an appropriate order under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Para – 7
It is true that in a suit for accounts the correct amount payable by one party to the other can be ascertained only when the accounts are examined and it is not possible to give an accurate valuation of the claim at the inception of the suit. The plaintiff is, therefore, allowed to give his own tentative valuation.
Ordinarily the court shall not examine the correctness of the valuation chosen, but the plaintiff cannot act arbitrarily in this matter. If a plaintiff chooses whimsically a ridiculous figure it is tantamount to not exercising his right in this regard.
In such a case it is not only open to the court but its duty is to reject such a valuation. The cases of some of the High Courts which have taken a different view must be held to be incorrectly decided.
Drafted by – Abhijit Mishra
Key Words – Valuation, Pecuniary Jurisdiction, Civil Procedure.