LI Network
Published on: 03 September 2023 at 12:36 IST
The Supreme Court has taken note of a recent case from the Karnataka High Court, Circuit Bench at Dharwad, where a regular second appeal was disposed of without framing any substantial question of law.
In a Special Leave Petition challenging the Karnataka High Court’s impugned order, the Supreme Court directed the Additional Registrar General of the Dharwad Bench to determine whether a substantial question of law was framed during the admission of the regular Second Appeal.
If such a question was framed, the court instructed that a copy should be sent to the Supreme Court’s Registry.
This development came in a case related to a partition suit involving the propositus, his widow, and six children. One of the sons had passed away, leaving behind a widow and the defendant-adopted son, who is the respondent in this matter.
The defendant claimed constructive possession of the property after his father’s death and asserted that he was the sole heir of the propositus. The plaintiff, on the other hand, initiated legal action to obtain possession of the properties but faced denial from the defendant.
The trial court had framed nine questions for adjudication, and the suit was partially decreed. Upon appeal, the trial court’s judgment was upheld, leading to the filing of a regular second appeal under Section 100 CPC.
In the second appeal, Justice Jyoti Mulimani partially allowed the appeal and modified the trial court’s decree, granting the defendant a share in certain properties while rejecting partition in others.
The Supreme Court, upon reviewing the matter, expressed concern over the lack of framing substantial questions of law in the regular second appeal cases from the Karnataka High Court. It noted that despite the mention of substantial questions of law in the judgment, there was no reference to their framing or answering.
The Supreme Court has stayed the impugned judgment and scheduled further hearings for September 22, 2023.
