Suit Simpliciter for Injunction without declaration of title

Posted on 15 July, 2023 by Khushi Bansal

SUIT SIMPLICITER FOR INJUNCTION WITHOUT DECLARATION OF TITLE

An injunction is an order/ decree passed by the court of law in order to do or abstain from doing something. Now, where property is in question, declaration of title alongside claiming of injunction becomes mandatory. This is because any order passed against the righteous owner of a property is a grave violation of natural justice.

This suit is specifically filed for mandatory injunctions. This kind of injunctions is an order which in order to prevent breach of obligation. It is a discretionary relief which prohibits the commission of an act. 

Injunction simpliciter suit essentially aims to claim only an injunction without referring to the ownership of title. But, declaration becomes crucial in order to determine the true owner, so that no judgement is passed in contradiction to the one who has a wilful claim over a particular property. “No innocent person should be made to suffer at any time.”

In the landmark judgement of our Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, ‘T.V. Ramakrishna Reddy v. M. Mallappa & Anr. 2021 SCC OnLine SC 674’, it was established in unequivocal terms that, “Where the plaintiffstitle is not in dispute or under a cloud, a suit for injunction could be decided with reference tothe finding on possession. It has been clearly held that if the matter involves complicatedquestions of fact and law relating to title, the court will relegate the parties to the remedy byway of comprehensive suit for declaration of title, instead of deciding the issue in a suit formere injunction”. This implies that where the title of a property is not under a cloud or under a dispute and the ownership is affixed to a particular person, the one claiming for the grant of injunction, a suit for declaration of title is not mandatory.

Before this principle was established by the Hon’ble apex court, a suit for injunction simpliciter has to be accompanied by a suit for declaration of title. So, first rightful title has to be established and thereafter, adjudication upon the suit for injunction can take place. But, the judgement pronounced by the Supreme Court of India as referred above is whole-heartedly welcomed by all the people. It was a welcome step in the right direction.

To conclude, a plaintiff coming to the court to seek mandatory injunction should also file for declaration of property. But, where the title is not under a cloud, a simple suit for claiming injunction would suffice.