Meaning
Res means all the right things that make up a topic in a particular story. In Latin, the word Sub-judice means ‘under a judge’ or in other words, a matter of ‘consideration’. It means the cause of a trial or pending trial before a court or judge. The doctrine of res-judicata precludes litigation pending in a court of competent jurisdiction. When the same parties open two or three cases in the same case, a competent court has jurisdiction over the proceedings of another court. The main purpose is to prevent the courts of competent jurisdiction from prosecuting two cases at the same time.
Nature, Scope and Objective
The sub-judicial policy prohibits the court from proceeding with any proceedings in which the matter under discussion is exactly the same as or similar to a claim previously filed between the same parties and the court in which the matter was pending has the power to provide the required relief.
This law applies to the case and not to the institution. It does not prevent the court from passing interim orders such as order or stay. However, it applies to reviews and complaints.
The purpose of this law is to prevent duplication of court cases. It is also required to protect the plaintiff from receiving two separate decisions from different courts in his favor or two conflicting decisions. It also ensures protection against unnecessary harassment. Legal policy is to prevent the plaintiff from the same law, thus preventing the possibility of two opposing decisions of the same court in relation to the same assistance.
Conditions
Section 10 of the Civil Procedural Code, 1908 deals with the conditions required for the application of the res sub judice policy.
The conditions for the use of res sub-judice are:
- When the issue at hand is the same
Section 10 makes it clear that the issue extracted from both suits must be straight or very similar. The issues for both suits should be the same to get the benefit of this system, not enough if one or two problems are common. In cases where all the issues were not the same, the court may exercise its jurisdiction under Section 151 and maintain a subsequent trial or the merger may be combined. The power of the courts to proceed with the proceedings under Section 151 is in the hands of the electorate and may be exercised only in the event of a breach of the court procedure and in the event of a breach of justice.
- According to the Indian Evidence Act, in 1872 the “essentials issued” were of two types:
The most important and the most important out here – “direct” means immediate which is without intervention. The word “very” means basically or materially.
Things go hand in hand and happen by accident – It goes against the direct or indirect issue.
- When groups of suits are the same
Two suits should have the same groups or represent them.
- When the title of the suit is the same
The title of the suits both teams face must also be the same.
- Where the suit has to wait
The previous case must be pending in court during the final hearing. The pending name is for a previously filed case, where a final decision has not yet been made.
- In the appropriate court
Section 10 further stipulates that a preliminary suit must wait before a competent court. If a previous case is pending before a competent court, no legal consequences can be filed.
Illustration
‘X’ and ‘Y’ decided to enter into a machine-selling agreement. ‘X’ is a seller and ‘Y’ is a buyer. Y failed to pay the sale price to X. X first filed a lawsuit to recover all the money in Bangalore. Following this, X filed another lawsuit in Bombay High Court seeking Rs. 30,000 as outstanding balance. In the case of X the Y has taken self-defense and the X suit must be kept because both suits are in the same problem. However the Bombay court held that since the first case X and the second case have the same problems as the first, the next case must be dismissed.
‘P’ was a lawyer in Patna who agreed to sell goods in Odisha in ‘M’. The ‘P’ agent then filed a Patna account. ‘M’ accuses agent ‘P’ of accounting and negligence in Odisha; while the case is pending in Patna. In this case, the Patna court is barred from committing a crime and may ask the Odisha Court to direct the proceedings of the Patna Court.
In the meantime when the above conditions are satisfied, the court cannot proceed with the claim already announced because the provisions contained in Article 10 are compulsory and the court cannot exercise its discretion. A stay order can be made at any stage of the process.
However, Section 10 removes the power of the court to assess the merits of the case as a whole. If the court is satisfied with the fact that the next case can be decided only in accordance with the law, it is open to the court to rule on such a claim.
Eg., -Neeta vs. Shiv Dayal Kapoor & Others have been held hostage and the following case cannot be suspended if the conditions set out in section 10 are not met. In the main case, the two courts that tried the same issues were not the same courts. Therefore, the proceedings of the next court were not adjourned.
Difference Between Res Judicata and Res Subjudice
Res Judicata
- Res judicata applies in a fixed or adjudicated case.
- Prevents a trial or issue already determined in the previous agreement.
- Section 11 of the Civil Procedural Code, 1908 deals with res judicata.
- Conditions:
- The competent tribunal must rule on the original claim.
- The issue raised in the next case must be the same as that directly or explicitly stated in that previous application.
- The teams should be the same in both suits.
- The court that ruled on the previous decision should be a competent court.
- The parties to the previous claim must face charges under the same title or in other words for the same position.
Res Subjudice
- Res Subjudice is working on a pending case.
- Prevents a pending trial in a predetermined suit.
- Section 10 of the Code applies only to the principle of res sub judice.
- There should be two suits, one pre-developed and one recently developed.
- The issues in this successive claim must be exactly the same or very similar to the previous suit.
- The teams in both suits should be the same.
- The court in which the previous complaint was lodged must be a court of competent jurisdiction to try that case.
- The title should also be the same for both suits.
Conclusion
Res sub judice as a doctrine has the ultimate goal of reducing the burden of the courts in overcrowding cases. Alternatively it also reduces the burden on the parties to add oral or double written evidence in various courts. It also avoids conflicting decisions and ensures that waste of court resources is minimized. The court can use this power and sit in the next case. People who try to abuse their right to receive double profits are being targeted by this system. Anyway the Indian judiciary is burdened with a lot of cases and if the parties are going to start instituting cases twice then one cannot even imagine the state of the courts in rendering a decision in all such cases.
References
- The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
This article has been written by Tamanna, from Chandigarh University.
