Procedure where defendant is suing plaintiff
Full Text
Where any of the defendants in an interpleader-suit is actually suing the plaintiff in respect the subject-matter of such suit, the Court in which the suit against the plaintiff is pending shall, on being informed by the Court in which the interpleader-suit has been instituted, stay the proceedings as against him; and his costs in the suit so stayed may be provided for in such suit; but if, and in so far as, they are not provided for in that suit, they may be added to his costs incurred in the interpleader-suit.
Plain English Summary
Mandates an automatic stay of any pending independent suit brought by a defendant against the stakeholder regarding the same subject-matter once informed by the interpleader court, preventing conflicting decrees and consolidating cost adjustments.
Key Legal Elements
- Mandatory Stay of Parallel Suit: The court trying the independent suit 'shall' stay proceedings upon intimation from the interpleader court.
- Prevention of Conflicting Decrees: Protects the stakeholder from being subjected to multiple simultaneous decrees or double liability for the same debt.
- Cost Adjustment: Legal costs of the stayed proceeding can be factored into and reimbursed in the interpleader suit.
- Requirement of Intimation: Official judicial communication or formal application informing the court of the interpleader suit is required.
- Distinction from Section 10 CPC: Rule 3 operates as a specific stay mechanism overriding general res sub judice conditions.
Practical Note
Strategic Defense Against Parallel Suits: 1. Mandatory Nature of Stay: The word 'shall' in Rule 3 leaves no discretion with the court where the independent suit is pending. As held in Shambhu Nath v. Kanhaya Lal (AIR 1920 All 112), once the court is officially apprised that a valid interpleader suit has been instituted regarding the identical res, it must stay the trial against the stakeholder. 2. Tactical Steps for Counsel: A defendant sued for a debt claimed by third parties should immediately file an interpleader suit under Section 88, obtain an intimation memo from the interpleader court, and move a formal application under Rule 3 read with Section 151 CPC to halt the parallel recovery suit.
हिंदी पाठ
जहां अंतर्वाची वाद के प्रतिवादियों में से कोई प्रतिवादी ऐसे वाद की विषय-वस्तु के संबंध में वादी पर वास्तव में वाद चला रहा है, वहां वह न्यायालय जिसमें वादी के विरुद्ध वाद लंबित है, उस न्यायालय द्वारा सूचित किए जाने पर जिसमें अंतर्वाची वाद संस्थित किया गया है, उसके विरुद्ध कार्यवाहियों को रोक (Stay) देगा; और इस प्रकार रोके गए वाद में उसके खर्चों का उपबंध ऐसे वाद में किया जा सकेगा; किंतु यदि और जहां तक कि उनका उपबंध उस वाद में नहीं किया गया है, वहां तक उन्हें अंतर्वाची वाद में उसके द्वारा उपगत खर्चों में जोड़ा जा सकेगा।