Whether conduct of defendant who is seeking vacation of interim order should also be fair and honest?

  The Wander Ltd. v. Antox India P. Ltd. (supra) fell for consideration in Gujarat Bottling Co. Ltd. v. Coca Cola Co. MANU/SC/0472/1995 : (1995) 5 SCC 545 wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that under Order 39 CPC the jurisdiction of the court to interfere with an order of interlocutory or temporary injunction is purely equitable and, therefore, the court, on being approached, will, apart from other considerations, also look to the conduct of the party invoking the jurisdiction of the Court, and may refuse to interfere unless his conduct was free from blame. Since the relief is wholly equitable in nature, the party invoking the jurisdiction of the court has to show that he himself was not at fault and that he himself was not responsible for bringing about the state of things complained of and that he was not unfair or inequitable in his dealings with the party against whom he was seeking relief. It is relevant to reproduce paragraph No. 47 as under:

"47. In this context, it would be relevant to mention that in the instant case GBC had approached the High Court for the injunction order, granted earlier, to be vacated. Under Order 39 of the Code of Civil Procedure, jurisdiction of the Court to interfere with an order of interlocutory or temporary injunction is purely equitable and, therefore, the Court, on being approached, will, apart from other considerations, also look to the conduct of the party invoking the jurisdiction of the Court, and may refuse to interfere unless his conduct was free from blame. Since the relief is wholly equitable in nature, the party invoking the jurisdiction of the Court has to show that he himself was not at fault and that he himself was not responsible for bringing about the state of things complained of and that he was not unfair or inequitable in his dealings with the party against whom he was seeking relief. His conduct should be fair and honest. These considerations will arise not only in respect of the person who seeks an order of injunction under Order 39 Rule 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, but also in respect of the party approaching the Court for vacating the ad interim or temporary injunction order already granted in the pending suit or proceedings". {Para 33}

34. In the present case, the trial court, while granting temporary injunction, has discussed that during the pendency of the suit the defendant No. 1, the appellant herein, transferred the suit schedule property in favour of defendants Nos. 2 and 3, and those defendants, in turn, transferred the part of the suit property in favour of third persons. The defendants/appellants invoking the jurisdiction of this court are therefore responsible for bringing about the state of things complained of by the plaintiff/respondent before the court below and cannot be prima facie said to be equitable in his dealings. In Gujarat Bottling Co. Ltd. v. Coca Cola Co. (supra) the Hon'ble Apex Court clearly laid down that the considerations of the conduct being fair and honest will arise not only in respect of an applicant seeking an order of injunction but also in respect of the party approaching the court for vacating the ad interim or temporary injunction already granted in the pending suit or proceeding.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI

Civil Miscellaneous Appeal Nos. 43 and 45 of 2021

Decided On: 25.01.2022

K. Ravi Prasad Reddy and Ors.  Vs.  G. Giridhar and Ors.

Hon'ble Judges/Coram:

C. Praveen Kumar and Ravi Nath Tilhari, JJ.

Author: Ravi Nath Tilhari, J.

Citation: MANU/AP/0075/2022.

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