Interlocutory Application: “Interlocutory” means, which doesn’t decides the cause but only settles some intervening matter relating to the cause. After the suit is instituted by the plaintiff and before it is finally disposed off, the court may make interlocutory orders as may appear to the court to be ust and convenient. !he power to grant Interlocutory orders can be traced to "ection #$ of %.&. %.&.%. "ecti "ection on #$ summ summari arise sess gene genera rall powe powers rs of a civil civil cour courtt in rega regard rd to diff differe erent nt type typess of Interlocutory orders. !he detailed procedure has been set out in the "chedule I of the %.&.% which deals with 'rders and Interlocutory orders which may take various shapes depending upon the re(uirement of the respective parties during the pendency pendency of the suit. Applications Applications for appointment of %ommissioner, !emporary Inunctions, )eceivers, payment into court, security for cause, and etc. 'ut of these various interlocutory orders that can be passed, the court is called upon to decide (uest (uestio ions ns rega regard rdin ing g gran grantt of tempo temporar rary y inu inunc ncti tion on,, recei receiver verss and and commi commissi ssion onss more more fre(uently than other interim orders An interlocutory proceedings have to be decided keeping in view of the )ules made under the %ivil )ules of &ractice particularly )ules *# to +* of %ivil )ules of &ractice which govern the procedure. !he court has to adhere to the procedure procedure prescribed therein. Interlocutory Order (O 39, r 6-r10 )
Interlocutory orders are somewhat similar to temporary inunctions. Interlocutory order only settles intervening matter relating to the cause. "uch orders are made to secure some end and purpose necessary necess ary and essential esse ntial to the progress of case cas e and generally genera lly collateral collat eral to the issues to be settled by the court in the final udgment. !hese orders are also of different natures, such as: •
Interim "ale: Interim sale of any movable movable property may be ordered, if it is subect to natural decay, such as vegetable etc.
•
etention &reservation , Inspection, etc of subect matter of suit
The court may order for:
-. etention, etention, preservat preservation ion or inspection inspection of of property property or documents. documents.
*. Authorie any person to enter into any land or building, which is in the possession of other party, for the purposes of detention, preservation or inspection etc. +. !o authorie any person to take samples. •
eposit of /oney: If the subect matter of suit is money, or movable
•
&roperty, the court may order the person holding the money in dispute to be deposited in the court.
•
'rder of 0)es udicata0 1 "ome issue cannot be raised, once decided2 1 sec -3 4 --2
•
0)es 5udicata0 means an issue, which has already been decided by the court, in a previous case, cannot be raised again in a subse(uent case.
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If such an issue, which is raised again, is substantial and material in
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a case, then the court may dismiss the whole case out rightly, before final hearing
Civil ule! of "ractice # elevant ule!:
(a) Form of Interlocutory application – Rule 53: Interlocutory applications shall be headed
with the cause title of the plaint, original petition, or appeal.
(b) Contents – Rule 54 : 67cept where otherwise provided by these rules or by any law for
the time being in force, an Interlocutory Application shall state the provision of law under which it is made and the order prayed for or relief sought in clear and precise terms. !he applications shall be signed by the applicant or his Advocate who shall enter the date on which such signature is made. 6very application in contravention of this rule shall be returned for amendment or it shall be reected.
(c) Separate application for each distinct prayer – Rule 55 : !here shall be separate
application in respect of each distinct relief prayed for. 8hen several reliefs are combined in one application, the court may direct the applicant to confine the application only to one of such reliefs unless the reliefs are conse(uential9 and to file a separate application in respect of each of the others.
(d) hen the I!"! may be re#ected – Rule 5$: 6very application which does not pray for a
substantive order but prays merely that any other application may be dismissed, and every application which prays for an order which ought to be applied for on the day fi7ed for the hearing of any suit, appeal, or matter, may be reected with costs.
(e) %roof of facts by affida&it: Rule $': Any fact re(uired to be proved upon an interlocutory
proceeding shall unless otherwise provided by these rules, or ordered by the %ourt, be proved by affidavit but the 5udge may, in any case, direct evidence to be given orally, and thereupon the evidence shall be recorded, and e7hibits marked, in the same manner as in a suit and list of the witness and e7hibits shall be prepared and anne7ed to the udgment.
$% &ervice of 'otice on alication *ffidavit:
(a) hree days notice: (Rule 5): 1-2 nless the %ourt otherwise orders, notice of an
interlocutory application shall be given to the other parties to the suit or matter or their Advocates, not less than three days before the day appointed for the hearing of the application.
(b) Ser&ice on "d&ocate: (*2 ;otice shall be served on the Advocate whenever the party
appears by such Advocate.
(c) Ser&ice on %arty appearin* in person : 1+2 ;otice of the application may be served on a
party not appearing by Advocate, by registered post acknowledgement due, or by speed post or by an approved courier service or by fa7 message or by electronic mail service or by such means, to the address given in the pleading and in the event of its non
(d) Copies to be ser&ed on opposite party not less than 3 clear days in ad&ance: (Rule 5+) 6very interlocutory application shall be supported by an affidavit and true copies of the
application, affidavit and the documents, if any, which the applicant intends to use or on which he intends to rely, shall be furnished to the opposite party or his advocate unless otherwise ordered, not less than three clear days before the hearing date.
(e) Filin* (Rule 44): =efore any affidavit is used it shall be filed in court but the 5udge may,
with the consent of both parties, or in case of urgency allow any affidavit to be presented to the court and read on the hearing of an application.
(f) ,otice of Filin* (Rule 45 2: !he party filing affidavit intended to be read in support of an
application shall give not less than two days’ notice thereof to the other parties, who shall be entitled to inspect and obtain copies of the same, and to file counter
(*) -ut of -rder petition – Rule 5. : 8henever it is intended to move the application as an
urgent 1out of order2 application, the copy of the application served on the Advocate or the party appearing in person shall contain an endorsement stating that the application is intended to be moved as an urgent application on the day specified in the endorsement.
A conspectus of the decisions of this %ourt establishes the following propositions: 1i2 An order which does not determine the right of the parties but only one aspect of the suit or the trial is an interlocutory order 1ii2 !he concept of interlocutory order has to be e7plained in contraaws< 1-2!he Ape7 %ourt in Central +an of India td% v% .oal Chand 1, while considering the scope of the e7pression 0the 'rder of the %ontroller0 under the elhi )ent %ontrol Act, -#?@ has held that though the words are very wide, do not include interlocutory orders which are merely procedural and do not affect the rights and the liabilities of the parties, and that all interlocutory orders like the orders regarding summoning of the witnesses, discovery, production and inspection of documents and inspection are passed towards final adudication
1AIR 1967 SC 799
and for the purpose of prosecution of a case, and they regulate the procedure only and do not affect any right or liability of the parties 1*2 Allahabad igh %ourt in &tandard .la!! +ead! /actory v% &hri har , it was held that an order of "ingle 5udge granting a temporary inunction for being interlocutory order having decided some rights of the parties was therefore appealable. It was further held that an interlocutory order though not conclusive of the main dispute may be conclusive as to subordinate matter with which it deals. 1+2 BA;8A) "I;C "AI;ID" %ase In other words when the word DdecreeD used in 'rder EEI )ule +* is only referable to a decree passed in a suit for permanent inunction after conducting necessary trial, an order passed in an interlocutory application under 'rder EEEIE )ules - and * %&% cannot be e(uated with that word DdecreeD for the purpose of taking recourse under the former provision when there was violation of the interlocutory order 1$2 In this conte7t in &'>AFA)A& ;ACA/A;IDs case it was held as follows: 0!o prevent the ends of ustice from being defeated0 the civil %ourt can pass any orders as specifically mentioned in "ection #$1a2 to 1d2 and is also empowered to make any order which it appears to be ust and convenient to meet the ends of ustice. "ection #? is intended to prevent abuse of power of %ourt and makes a party obtaining temporary inunction or an order of arrest or an order of attachment without sufficient grounds, liable for compensation at the behest of the party who suffers arrestGattachment or temporary inunction. It is settled law that ordinarily no %ourt can pass an interlocutory order if it has effect or tend to be susceptible of an inference of preudging some important or sensitive issue in the main matter.
2 AIR 1960 All 692
