{"id":180831,"date":"2010-08-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-02T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010"},"modified":"2018-03-22T18:15:06","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T12:45:06","slug":"ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010","title":{"rendered":"M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; &#8230; vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; &#8230; vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: R.V.Raveendran<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: R.V. Raveendran, H.L. Gokhale<\/div>\n<pre>                                                                          Reportable\n                 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA\n\n                  CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION\n\n                CIVIL APPEAL NO                OF 2010\n                [Arising out of SLP (C) No.19894\/2009]\n\n\n\nM\/s. Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd. &amp; Ors.                    ... Appellants\n\nVs.\n\nShri Harbans Lal (since deceased)\nThrough Lrs.                                            ... Respondents\n\n\n\n                            JUDGMENT\n<\/pre>\n<p>R.V.RAVEENDRAN, J.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>      Leave granted. This appeal relates to the scope of Rule 2 of Order 10<\/p>\n<p>of Code of Civil Procedure (`Code&#8217; for short) and the correctness of<\/p>\n<p>invoking of Section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (`Cr.P.C.&#8217; for<\/p>\n<p>short) in regard to answers given by a party in an examination under Order<\/p>\n<p>10 Rule 2 of the Code.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       2<\/span><\/p>\n<p>2.    Late Harbans Lal (for short the `plaintiff&#8217; of whom the respondents<\/p>\n<p>are the legal heirs) filed a suit against the appellants on 5.9.2006, for<\/p>\n<p>recovery of Rs. 66 lakhs. He alleged that second appellant and his brother<\/p>\n<p>late Sohan Lal Dua (father of third appellant) on behalf of the first appellant,<\/p>\n<p>had executed an Agreement\/Receipt dated 7.9.2003 agreeing to sell him an<\/p>\n<p>industrial property for a consideration of Rs. 2,02,41,600\/- and had received<\/p>\n<p>a sum of Rs. 33 lakhs made up of Rs. 9 lakhs by cheque and Rs. 24 lakhs in<\/p>\n<p>cash towards the said agreement. He further alleged that the appellants were<\/p>\n<p>unwilling to convey the property and failed to produce the documents<\/p>\n<p>necessary to satisfy him about their title to the property; and that therefore in<\/p>\n<p>terms of the agreement, he was suing for refund of double the amount<\/p>\n<p>advanced by him.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>3.    The appellants filed a criminal complaint dated 23.2.2007 against<\/p>\n<p>Harbans Lal and certain others alleging that the purported signatures of<\/p>\n<p>second appellant and late Sohanlal Dua on the said agreement\/receipt were<\/p>\n<p>forged and that they had not executed any such agreement\/receipt. On<\/p>\n<p>5.3.2007, they also filed their written statement in the suit filed by Harbans<\/p>\n<p>Lal denying the claim, and making a counter claim seeking a declaration that<\/p>\n<p>the agreement\/receipt put forth by the plaintiff was forged and void. The<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     3<\/span><\/p>\n<p>appellants alleged that second appellant and his late brother had never signed<\/p>\n<p>the agreement\/receipt and the signatures found thereon, (purporting to be the<\/p>\n<p>signatures of second appellant and his late brother) were clever forgeries;<\/p>\n<p>that they did not receive Rs.24 lakhs said to have been paid in cash; that the<\/p>\n<p>sum of Rs. 9 lakhs paid by cheque by Harbans Lal, was an advance to their<\/p>\n<p>company (first appellant) obtained by late Sohanlal Dua to tide over a short<\/p>\n<p>term financial crisis and the said amount was treated as share application<\/p>\n<p>money.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>4.    In the said suit, the appellants filed an application under Section 151<\/p>\n<p>of the Code for referring the agreement\/receipt to a hand writing expert or a<\/p>\n<p>Government Forensic Laboratory for examination of the signatures therein<\/p>\n<p>and for keeping the said document in safe custody. On 31.7.2007 a learned<\/p>\n<p>Single Judge of the High Court made an order directing as follows : (a)<\/p>\n<p>parties to file their original documents within four weeks and matter to be<\/p>\n<p>listed before the Joint Registrar for admission\/denial of documents on<\/p>\n<p>27.9.2007; (b) matter to be listed before court for framing issues on<\/p>\n<p>8.1.2008; (c) parties to be personally present on the next date of hearing for<\/p>\n<p>recording their statement under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code; and (d) the<\/p>\n<p>original receipt\/agreement of sale dated 7.9.2003 should be kept in safe<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                          4<\/span><\/p>\n<p>custody in a sealed cover. In regard to the appellants&#8217; application seeking<\/p>\n<p>reference to a hand writing expert, the learned single Judge directed as<\/p>\n<p>follows:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      &#8220;&#8230;&#8230;Insofar as the directions sought for sending the receipt\/agreement to<br \/>\n      sell to a hand writing expert is concerned, I am of the considered view that<br \/>\n      the parties can lead their respective evidence including of hand writing<br \/>\n      expert in support of their pleas. Application stands disposed of.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>5.    The appellants filed an appeal aggrieved by the refusal to refer the<\/p>\n<p>matter to a hand writing expert, contending that they had obtained a<\/p>\n<p>Preliminary Report dated 4.2.2007 from a Handwriting Expert with<\/p>\n<p>reference to a photocopy of the Agreement\/Receipt; and that the<\/p>\n<p>Handwriting Expert could give expert evidence on the genuineness of the<\/p>\n<p>document, only if he got an opportunity to examine the original also. The<\/p>\n<p>said appeal was disposed of by a Division Bench of the High Court on<\/p>\n<p>1.11.2007 with the following observations:\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      &#8220;In our considered opinion, the apprehension of the learned counsel for the<br \/>\n      appellant is misplaced and unfounded as the appellant can file an<br \/>\n      application before the learned Single Judge seeking intervention of the<br \/>\n      court to permit a hand writing expert to examine the original<br \/>\n      receipt\/agreement to sell dated 7.9.2003 take photographs etc. and give his<br \/>\n      opinion with regard to the genuineness of the said document.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      As and when any application is field by the appellant, the same shall be<br \/>\n      considered by the learned Single Judge in terms of the observations made<br \/>\n      herein giving due weightage to the submissions of the learned counsel<br \/>\n      appearing for the appellant.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                        5<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In pursuance of it, the appellants filed an application on 7.1.2008 under<\/p>\n<p>Order 26 Rule 10A of the Code to permit their Handwriting Expert to<\/p>\n<p>inspect the original Agreement\/Receipt dated 7.9.2003 and take photographs<\/p>\n<p>thereof so that he can give a further report as also evidence. They also made<\/p>\n<p>another application on 7.1.2008 to modify the order dated 31.7.2007 and<\/p>\n<p>defer the examination under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code till the report of<\/p>\n<p>the Handwriting Expert was received. In the meanwhile, the plaintiff<\/p>\n<p>Harbans Lal having died on 12.11.2007, his legal representatives came on<\/p>\n<p>record on 29.4.2008.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>6.    On 3.10.2008, a learned Single Judge directed the Principal Officer<\/p>\n<p>and Managing Director of the first appellant-company to appear in person on<\/p>\n<p>12.11.2008 along with its annual returns filed with the Registrar of<\/p>\n<p>Companies, income tax returns and the balance sheets for the financial year<\/p>\n<p>2003-2004 onwards. In pursuance of the said order, the second appellant<\/p>\n<p>appeared before the court with the relevant documents on 12.11.2008. The<\/p>\n<p>second appellant was examined under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code and his<\/p>\n<p>statement recorded by the learned Single Judge, is extracted below:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      &#8220;I am the Managing Director of M\/s. Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd. Rs. 9 lacs<br \/>\n      received from the plaintiff is shown in the statement of account of the<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                           6<\/span><\/p>\n<p>      defendant No.1 &#8211; Company. However, the said amount is not reflected in<br \/>\n      the annual return of the defendant No.1-Company which was filed in the<br \/>\n      Registrar of Companies. It is correct for the period ending 31st March,<br \/>\n      2004 receipt of share application money of Rs. 9 lacs is not shown and<br \/>\n      mentioned. As on 31st March, 2004, the paid up share capital of the<br \/>\n      defendant No. 1- Company was Rs. 51 lacs. This did not include Rs. 9<br \/>\n      lacs. Defendant No.1-Company is a Pvt. Ltd. company.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      The plaintiff did not fill up any share application form\/share allotment<br \/>\n      form before payment of money. I am not aware whether a request letter or<br \/>\n      a share application form is required to be filled up by a party before shares<br \/>\n      can be allotted. At no point of time, defendant No. 1 has recorded or<br \/>\n      mentioned entry of Rs. 24 lacs as received from the plaintiff in cash. We<br \/>\n      know the plaintiffs. We have known them for several years.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      Question : Please examine the stamp and the signatures and state<br \/>\n      whether they belong to the defendant No. 1 &#8211; Company and who has<br \/>\n      signed?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      (Witness was shown copy of Agreement\/Receipt in a manner that only<br \/>\n      the rubber stamp and the signature on the document was visible and<br \/>\n      the rest portion of the document was covered by a blank paper. For<br \/>\n      the sake of convenience, the Agreement\/receipt is marked `A&#8217;)<\/p>\n<p>      Answer : Stamp at point `A&#8217; is that of defendant No.1 &#8211; Company and<br \/>\n      the same has been signed by me.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      Question : Are you ready and willing to pay back Rs. 9 lacs?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      Answer : We are ready and willing to pay Rs. 9 lacs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>                                                              (emphasis supplied)<\/p>\n<p>On conclusion of the said examination, the learned Single Judge made the<\/p>\n<p>following order on 12.11.2008:\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      &#8220;Statement of the Managing Director of the defendant No. 1 &#8211;<br \/>\n      Company has been recorded today in the court. The Managing<br \/>\n      Director has admitted his signature on the Agreement\/receipt as well<br \/>\n      as stamp of the defendant No. 1 &#8211; Company on the said document.<br \/>\n      The said document was thereafter shown to the witness after<br \/>\n      removing blank paper. I may note here that the said document was<br \/>\n      denied at the time of admission\/denial and in the written statement.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                         7<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      Witness -Managing Director of defendant No. 1 Company has produced<br \/>\n      copy of annual returns. These will be indexed and filed in the Registry<br \/>\n      within two days. Copy of the same be supplied to the learned counsel for<br \/>\n      the plaintiff within one week.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      List this matter on 21st January, 2009 when all pending applications will<br \/>\n      be considered.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      Court on the next date will also examine whether or not to initiate<br \/>\n      proceedings against Mr. Harish Kumar Dua, Managing Director of<br \/>\n      defendant No. 1 Company under Section 340 Code of Criminal<br \/>\n      Procedure, 1973 and 195 of the Indian Penal Code.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                                                           (emphasis supplied)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>7.    Feeling aggrieved, the appellants filed an intra-court appeal on<\/p>\n<p>16.1.2009. A Division Bench of the High Court dismissed the said appeal,<\/p>\n<p>by the following order dated 20.1.2009.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      &#8220;The Managing Director of the appellant had denied his signatures<br \/>\n      earlier on the agreement\/receipt but when his statement was recorded<br \/>\n      under order 10 CPC before the court, an admission came that the<br \/>\n      signature were his and stamp of defendant No. 1 company. The truth<br \/>\n      emerged though belatedly.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      We see nothing wrong with this process by which the learned judge has<br \/>\n      recorded statement under Order 10 of CPC which is a tool for the court to<br \/>\n      obtain elucidation of the matter and to obtain answer to any material<br \/>\n      question. The authority of the court to examine a party under Order 10<br \/>\n      Rule 2 CPC can hardly be doubted and undoubtedly the crucial document<br \/>\n      is the agreement\/receipt in respect of the matter in controversy.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      We find that the appeal is wholly misconceived and without any merit.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                                                           (emphasis supplied)<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                            8<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>8.     The said order is challenged in this appeal by special leave. On the<\/p>\n<p>contentions urged by the learned counsel, the following questions arise for<\/p>\n<p>our consideration:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(i )   What is the scope and ambit of Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code?<\/p>\n<p>(ii) Whether the court could, in an examination under Order 10 Rule 2 of<br \/>\nthe Code, confront a defendant with only the signature portion of a disputed<br \/>\nunexhibited document filed by the plaintiff (by covering the remaining<br \/>\nportions of the document) and require him to identify the seal\/stamp and<br \/>\nsignature?\n<\/p>\n<p>(iii) Whether on the basis of the answer given by a party, in response to a<br \/>\nquestion under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code, the court could prosecute him<br \/>\nunder Section 340 of Code of Criminal Procedure read with Section 195 of<br \/>\nthe Indian Penal Code?\n<\/p>\n<p>\nRe : Question (i)<\/p>\n<p>9.     We may first advert to the relevant provisions. Rule 2 of Order 10 of<\/p>\n<p>the Code as also Rules 1 and 3 are relevant and they are extracted below :<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>         &#8220;ORDER 10 &#8211; EXAMIANTION OF PARTIES BY THE COURT<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>       1. Ascertainment whether allegations in pleadings are admitted or<br \/>\n       denied-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>       At the first hearing of the suit the Court shall ascertain from each party or<br \/>\n       his pleader whether he admits or denies such allegations of fact as are<br \/>\n       made in the plaint or written statement (if any) of the opposite party, and<br \/>\n       as are not expressly or by necessary implication admitted or denied by the<br \/>\n       party against whom they are made. The Court shall record such<br \/>\n       admissions and denials.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                             9<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      2. Oral examination of party, or companion of party &#8212;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      (1) At the first hearing of the suit, the Court-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>              (a) shall, with a view to elucidating matters in controversy in the<br \/>\n              suit examine orally such of the parties to the suit appearing in<br \/>\n              person or present in Court, as it deems fit; and<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>              (b) may orally examine any person, able to answer any material<br \/>\n              question relating to the suit, by whom any party appearing in<br \/>\n              person or present in Court or his pleader is accompanied.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      (2) At any subsequent hearing, the Court may orally examine any party<br \/>\n      appearing in person or present in Court, or any person, able to answer any<br \/>\n      material question relating to the suit, by whom such party or his pleader is<br \/>\n      accompanied.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      (3) The Court may, if it thinks fit, put in the course of an examination<br \/>\n      under this rule questions suggested by either party.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      3. Substance of examination to be written &#8212;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      The substance of the examination shall be reduced to writing by the Judge,<br \/>\n      and shall form part of the record.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>10.   Rule 1 enables the court to ascertain from each of the parties (or his<\/p>\n<p>pleader), at the first hearing whether he admits or denies such of those<\/p>\n<p>allegations of fact made in the pleadings of the other party, which were not<\/p>\n<p>expressly or by necessary implication admitted or denied by him. In other<\/p>\n<p>words, if the defendant in his written statement fails to expressly or by<\/p>\n<p>necessary implication admit or deny any of the plaint allegations, the court<\/p>\n<p>can ascertain from the defendant, whether he admits or denies the said plaint<\/p>\n<p>allegations. Similarly, if the defendant has made some allegations against the<\/p>\n<p>plaintiff in his written statement, and no reply is filed thereto by the plaintiff,<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>the court can ascertain whether plaintiff admits or denies those allegations.<\/p>\n<p>Resort to Rule 1 of Order 10 is necessary only in cases where the court finds<\/p>\n<p>that the plaintiff or the defendant has failed to expressly or impliedly admit<\/p>\n<p>or deny any of the allegations made against him, by the other party.<\/p>\n<p>Examination under Order 10 Rule 1 of the Code will not be necessary where<\/p>\n<p>the pleadings of each party have been fully and clearly traversed by the other<\/p>\n<p>party.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>11.      On the other hand, the examination under Rule 2 of Order 10 of the<\/p>\n<p>Code, need not be restricted to allegations in the pleadings of the other party,<\/p>\n<p>but can relate to elucidating any matter in controversy in the suit. Further,<\/p>\n<p>under Rule 1 of Order 10, the court can examine only the parties and their<\/p>\n<p>advocates, that too at the `first hearing&#8217;. On the other hand, Rule 2 enables<\/p>\n<p>the court to examine not only any party, but also any person accompanying<\/p>\n<p>either party or his pleader, to obtain answer to any material question relating<\/p>\n<p>to the suit, either at the first hearing or subsequent hearings. The object of<\/p>\n<p>oral examination under Rule 2 of Order 10 is to ascertain the matters in<\/p>\n<p>controversy in suit, and not to record evidence or to secure admissions. The<\/p>\n<p>statement made by a party in an examination under Rule 2 is not under oath,<\/p>\n<p>and is not intended to be a substitute for a regular examination under oath<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                           11<\/span><\/p>\n<p>under Order 18 of the Code. It is intended to elucidate what is obscure and<\/p>\n<p>vague in the pleadings. In other words, while the purpose of an examination<\/p>\n<p>under Rule 1 is to clarify the stand of a party in regard to the allegations<\/p>\n<p>made against him in the pleadings of the other party, the purpose of the oral<\/p>\n<p>examination under Rule 2 is mainly to elucidate the allegations even in his<\/p>\n<p>own pleadings, or any documents filed with the pleadings. The power under<\/p>\n<p>Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code, cannot be converted into a process of selective<\/p>\n<p>cross-examination by the court, before the party has an opportunity to put<\/p>\n<p>forth his case at the trial.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>12.    The above position of law is well settled. We need refer only to two<\/p>\n<p>decisions in this behalf. In Manmohan Das v. Mt. Ramdei &amp; Anr. [AIR 1931<\/p>\n<p>PC 175], the Privy Council observed:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>       &#8220;No doubt under Order 10, Rule 2, any party present in Court may be<br \/>\n       examined orally by the Court at any stage of the hearing, and the Court<br \/>\n       may if it thinks fit put in the course of such examination questions<br \/>\n       suggested by either party. But this power is intended to be used by the<br \/>\n       Judge only when he finds it necessary to obtain from such party<br \/>\n       information on any material questions relating to the suit and ought not to<br \/>\n       be employed so as to supersede the ordinary procedure at trial as<br \/>\n       prescribed in Order 18.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                                                              (emphasis supplied)<\/p>\n<p>A Division Bench of the Madras High Court in Arunagiri Goundan v.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Vasantharoya Koundan &amp; Ors (AIR 1949 Madras 707), held as follows<\/p>\n<p>referring to Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code :\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                          12<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      &#8220;At the outset it must be pointed out that this (Order 10 Rule 2) does not<br \/>\n      provide for an examination on oath. This provision was intended to be<br \/>\n      used to elucidate the matters in controversy in suit before the trial began.<br \/>\n      This is not a provision intended to be used to supersede the usual<br \/>\n      procedure to be followed at the trial.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>13.   The object of Order 10 Rule 2 is not to elicit admissions. Nor does it<\/p>\n<p>provide for or contemplate admissions. The admissions are usually<\/p>\n<p>contemplated (i) in the pleadings (express or constructive under Order 8<\/p>\n<p>Rule 5 of the Code); (ii) during examination of a party by the court under<\/p>\n<p>Order 10 Rule 1 of the Code; (iii) in answers to interrogatories under Order<\/p>\n<p>11 Rule 8 of the Code; (iv) in response to notice to admit facts under Order<\/p>\n<p>12 Rule 4 of the Code; (v) in any evidence or in an affidavit, on oath; and<\/p>\n<p>(vi) when any party voluntarily comes forward during the pendency of a suit<\/p>\n<p>or proceedings to make an admission.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>14.   The power of court to call upon a party to admit any document and<\/p>\n<p>record whether the party admits or refuses or neglects to admit such<\/p>\n<p>document is traceable to Order 12 Rule 3A rather than Order 10 Rule 2 of<\/p>\n<p>the Code. Nothing however comes in the way of the court combining the<\/p>\n<p>power under Order 12 Rule 3A with its power under Order 10 Rule 2 of the<\/p>\n<p>Code and calling upon a party to admit any document when a Party is being<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     13<\/span><\/p>\n<p>examined under Order 10 Rule 2. But the court can only call upon a party to<\/p>\n<p>admit any document and cannot cross-examine a party with reference to a<\/p>\n<p>document.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nRe : Question No.(ii)<\/p>\n<p>15.   Learned counsel for the appellants contended that confronting the<\/p>\n<p>signature portion of a disputed document by covering up the remaining<\/p>\n<p>portions, is a tool in the arsenal of the cross examining counsel. He<\/p>\n<p>submitted that the court examining a party under Order 10 Rule 2 of the<\/p>\n<p>Code while purporting to elucidate the matters in controversy, cannot<\/p>\n<p>confront the signature portion of a disputed unexhibited document by<\/p>\n<p>adopting the procedure of covering up the other portions of the agreement.<\/p>\n<p>16.   The learned counsel for the respondents on the other hand submitted<\/p>\n<p>that the power of the court under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code, to examine<\/p>\n<p>any party with reference to any document is wide and unrestricted and<\/p>\n<p>therefore, any procedure adopted to arrive at the truth, could not be said to<\/p>\n<p>be a deviation from the normal examination under Order 10 Rule 2 of the<\/p>\n<p>Code. He relied upon the decisions of several High Courts in support of his<\/p>\n<p>contention that the court could confront a party with a document and seek<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                            14<\/span><\/p>\n<p>his admission in respect of its execution. The decisions relied upon are :<\/p>\n<p>Bhanwarlal Kavad v. Shyamsunder [AIR 1984 Raj. 113], Amrita Devi v.<\/p>\n<p>Sripat Rai [AIR 1962 All. 111], Rajiv Srivastava v. Sanjiv Tuli [AIR 2005<\/p>\n<p>Del. 319] and Gautam Adani v. Container Corporation of India [150 (2008)<\/p>\n<p>DLT 281]. On a careful consideration of these decisions, we find that they<\/p>\n<p>are not of any assistance in this case.\n<\/p>\n<p>16.1)    In Bhanwar Lal Kavad (supra), a learned Single Judge of Rajasthan<\/p>\n<p>High Court held:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>        &#8220;In my opinion the court should resort to the examination of the parties<br \/>\n        under Rule 2, particularly on the documents, which are said to be signed<br \/>\n        by the parties. &#8230;. it is better that the original documents are put to the<br \/>\n        party and admission or denial is obtained after visual observations by the<br \/>\n        party himself of the original documents. After looking into the documents,<br \/>\n        the party would be in a position to admit or deny the same, which would<br \/>\n        not be possible, if the same is got done by his pleader.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>16.2)     Learned Single Judge of the Allahabad High Court in Amrita Devi<\/p>\n<p>(supra) and the Division Bench of Delhi High Court in Rajiv Srivastava<\/p>\n<p>(supra) held that an admission made by a party under Order 10 Rule 2 of the<\/p>\n<p>Code is conclusive against him, and the court can proceed to pass judgment<\/p>\n<p>on the basis of such admission.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                             15<\/span><\/p>\n<p>16.3)    In Gautam Adani (supra), a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court<\/p>\n<p>referred to the scope of Order 10 Rule 2 thus:\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>        &#8220;&#8230;..we are of the view that examination of the parties is a matter that is<br \/>\n        per se intended not so much for determining any right or obligation in the<br \/>\n        suit or resolving or adjudicating upon a controversy as it is for identifying<br \/>\n        the precise area of controversy so that the same can be effectively<br \/>\n        adjudicated upon. The distinction between any order which adjudicates<br \/>\n        upon a controversy or a part thereof and another which simply attempts to<br \/>\n        identify the real area in controversy cannot be lost sight of. Inasmuch as<br \/>\n        the impugned order directed the defendants to remain present for<br \/>\n        recording their statements under Order 10 Rule 2, it was an attempt to<br \/>\n        identify the real issues in controversy and to elucidate matters which, in<br \/>\n        the opinion of the learned Single Judge, required to be elucidated.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>16.4) None of these decisions assists the respondents. Bhanwar Lal Kavad<\/p>\n<p>recognizes the power of the court to call upon a party to admit a document.<\/p>\n<p>Amrita Devi and Rajiv Srivastava reiterate the position that if a party makes<\/p>\n<p>an admission of fact, it will be binding on him. Gautam Adani supports the<\/p>\n<p>contention of the appellants that the scope of Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code is<\/p>\n<p>limited to identifying the matters in controversy and not to adjudicate upon<\/p>\n<p>the matters in controversy.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>17.     The object of the examination under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code is<\/p>\n<p>to identify the matters in controversy and not to prove or disprove the<\/p>\n<p>matters in controversy, nor to seek admissions, nor to decide the rights or<\/p>\n<p>obligations of parties. If the court had merely asked the second appellant<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                    16<\/span><\/p>\n<p>whether he had executed the agreement\/receipt or not, by showing him the<\/p>\n<p>document (by marking the document for purposes of identification only<\/p>\n<p>and not as an exhibit), it might have been possible to justify it as<\/p>\n<p>examination under Order 10 Rule 2 read with Order 12 Rule 3A of the<\/p>\n<p>Code. But any attempt by the Court, to either to prove or disprove a<\/p>\n<p>document or to cross-examine a party by adopting the stratagem of<\/p>\n<p>covering portions of a document used by cross-examining counsel, are<\/p>\n<p>clearly outside the scope of an examination under Order 10 Rule 2 of the<\/p>\n<p>Code and the power to call upon a party to admit any document under<\/p>\n<p>Order 12 Rule 3A of the Code. What the High Court has done in this case<\/p>\n<p>is to `cross-examine&#8217; the second appellant and not examine him as<\/p>\n<p>contemplated under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code. We therefore hold that<\/p>\n<p>the purported examination under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code, by<\/p>\n<p>confronting a party only with a signature on a disputed and unexhibited<\/p>\n<p>document by adopting the process of covering the remaining portions<\/p>\n<p>thereof is impermissible, being beyond the scope of an examination under<\/p>\n<p>Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>18.   In this case the appellants-defendants denied having signed\/executed<\/p>\n<p>any agreement\/receipt in favour of the respondents. In the examination under<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      17<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Order 10 Rule 2, the court did not ask the second appellant whether he had<\/p>\n<p>signed the document or not, by showing the document. What was done was<\/p>\n<p>confrontation of a signature alone without disclosing the document. When so<\/p>\n<p>confronted, the second appellant admitted the signature shown as his<\/p>\n<p>signature. But that is not an admission of execution of agreement\/receipt.<\/p>\n<p>The specific case of appellants in the written statement was that the<\/p>\n<p>Agreement\/Receipt dated 7.9.2003 was a clever forgery. If a signature is a<\/p>\n<p>clever forgery, there is a likelihood of the same passing the normal scrutiny<\/p>\n<p>of the person to whom it is attributed. Similar is the position in regard to<\/p>\n<p>stamping the name of the company. If a false signature is very different from<\/p>\n<p>the real signature, and is easily identifiable, it will be a `forgery&#8217; but not a<\/p>\n<p>`clever forgery&#8217;. Therefore, if the document allegedly containing the forged<\/p>\n<p>signature is covered in such a manner as to show only a stamp\/seal and<\/p>\n<p>signature, and if a question is put by the court under Order 10 Rule 2 to<\/p>\n<p>identify the seal\/stamp and the signature and if the witness identifies the<\/p>\n<p>signature as his and the stamp\/seal as that of his company, there are two<\/p>\n<p>possibilities : The first is that what is shown is the genuine signature of the<\/p>\n<p>party and the genuine stamp of his company, and that he has identified and<\/p>\n<p>admitted them. The second is that they are clever forgeries and the party<\/p>\n<p>could not obviously identify the forgery when it was shown to him by<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     18<\/span><\/p>\n<p>covering other portions of the document, when he is given only a normal<\/p>\n<p>glance without an opportunity to scrutinize it properly. Whether it is a<\/p>\n<p>forgery or not will have to be determined with reference to the expert<\/p>\n<p>evidence and after the evidence of both plaintiff and defendants tested by<\/p>\n<p>cross-examination.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>19.   Both the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench committed an<\/p>\n<p>obvious error in equating admission of a signature which is claimed to be a<\/p>\n<p>clever forgery, as an admission of execution of the agreement\/receipt and the<\/p>\n<p>contents thereof. The observations of the learned Single Judge in his order<\/p>\n<p>that &#8220;The Managing Director has admitted his signature on the<\/p>\n<p>agreement\/receipt as well as stamp of the defendant no.1 company on the<\/p>\n<p>said document&#8221; and the further observation that on the basis of the said<\/p>\n<p>answer, the second appellant could be proceeded under Section 195 of<\/p>\n<p>Indian Penal Code read with Section 340 of Code of Criminal Procedure, are<\/p>\n<p>without any basis. Equally unwarranted is the observation of the Division<\/p>\n<p>Bench : &#8220;The Managing Director of the appellant had denied his signature<\/p>\n<p>earlier on the agreement\/receipt, but when his statement was recorded under<\/p>\n<p>Order 10 CPC before the court, an admission came out that the signature<\/p>\n<p>were his&#8230;. The truth emerged though belatedly&#8221;. Admission must<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     19<\/span><\/p>\n<p>obviously be a conscious and deliberate act. Admission can be explained.<\/p>\n<p>An admission of a signature is not an admission of execution of a document.<\/p>\n<p>The power to identify the matters in controversy by examination of parties at<\/p>\n<p>the pre-trial stage under Order 10 Rule 2, is completely different from the<\/p>\n<p>power exercised by the court under Section 165 of the Evidence Act to put<\/p>\n<p>any question it pleases in any form, to a witness or a party in order to<\/p>\n<p>discover or to obtain proper proof of relevant facts, or the power under<\/p>\n<p>Order 18 Rule 14 of the Code to recall and examine any witness. The court&#8217;s<\/p>\n<p>anxiety to do justice by speeding up the process of the suit should not itself<\/p>\n<p>lead to injustice.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nRe : Question No.(iii)<\/p>\n<p>20.    The Division Bench has affirmed the order of the learned Single<\/p>\n<p>Judge that he will next hear whether he should proceed to initiate<\/p>\n<p>proceedings under Section 340 Cr.P.C. read with Section 195 of Indian<\/p>\n<p>Penal Code (`IPC&#8217; for short). Section 195 of Cr.P.C. provides that whoever<\/p>\n<p>gives or fabricates false evidence intending thereby to cause, or knowing it<\/p>\n<p>to be likely that he will thereby cause, any person to be convicted of an<\/p>\n<p>offence punishable with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term of<\/p>\n<p>seven years or upwards, shall be punished as a person convicted of that<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      20<\/span><\/p>\n<p>offence would be liable to be punished. Section 195 (1)(b) of the Cr.P.C.<\/p>\n<p>provides that no court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under<\/p>\n<p>section 195 of IPC when such offence is alleged to have been committed in,<\/p>\n<p>or in relation to, any proceeding in any Court, except on the complaint in<\/p>\n<p>writing of that Court. Section 340 of the Cr.P.C. provides that when upon an<\/p>\n<p>application made to it in that behalf or otherwise, any Court is of opinion<\/p>\n<p>that it is expedient in the interests of justice that an inquiry should be made<\/p>\n<p>into any offence referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 195 of<\/p>\n<p>Cr.P.C. which appears to have been committed in or in relation to a<\/p>\n<p>proceeding in that Court or, as the case may be, in respect of a document<\/p>\n<p>produced or given in evidence in a proceeding in that Court, such Court<\/p>\n<p>may, after such preliminary inquiry, if any, as it thinks necessary, record a<\/p>\n<p>finding to that effect, make a complaint thereof in writing, sent it to a<\/p>\n<p>Magistrate of the first class having jurisdiction etc. Thus the power under<\/p>\n<p>section 340 CrPC read with section 195 IPC can be exercised only where<\/p>\n<p>someone fabricates false evidence or gives false evidence. By no stretch of<\/p>\n<p>imagination, a party giving an answer to a question put under Order 10 Rule<\/p>\n<p>2 of the Code when not under oath and when not being examined as a<\/p>\n<p>witness, can attract section 195 of IPC and consequently cannot attract<\/p>\n<p>section 195(1)(b) and section 340 of Cr.P.C.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     21<\/span><\/p>\n<p>21.   The respondents relied upon the decision of a Division Bench of the<\/p>\n<p>High Court in Satish Kumar v Union of India [2009 (108) DRJ 317] to<\/p>\n<p>contend that there can be a prosecution under Section 340 Cr.P.C. in regard<\/p>\n<p>to a statement under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code. The conclusion in Satish<\/p>\n<p>Kumar that a party can be prosecuted under Section 340 Cr.P.C. for his<\/p>\n<p>answers in an examination under Order 10 Rule 2 is erroneous and unsound.<\/p>\n<p>As noticed above, the answers to an examination under Order 10 Rule 2 are<\/p>\n<p>not on oath and therefore the party is not deposing as a witness on oath when<\/p>\n<p>giving his answers under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code. In Satish Kumar, the<\/p>\n<p>Delhi High Court purported to rely upon the decision of this Court in <a href=\"\/doc\/1483568\/\">B.K.<\/p>\n<p>Gupta v. Damodar H. Bajaj<\/a> [2001 (9) SCC 742], to hold that prosecution<\/p>\n<p>under section 340 CrPC is permissible in regard to answer given under<\/p>\n<p>Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code. What this Court observed in B.K. Gupta was<\/p>\n<p>that a complaint can be filed against a person who has given false affidavit<\/p>\n<p>or evidence in a proceeding before the court. But a party giving an answer in<\/p>\n<p>an examination under Order 10 Rule 2 is neither giving evidence nor giving<\/p>\n<p>a affidavit. Section 340 of the Code will not be attracted with reference to<\/p>\n<p>any statement under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code assuming that the Delhi<\/p>\n<p>High Court had laid down the law rightly in Satish Kumar, the said<\/p>\n<p>observation will not help the respondent in this case. In Satish Kumar, it was<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     22<\/span><\/p>\n<p>held that a false statement given in the examination under Order 10 Rule 2<\/p>\n<p>of the Code can give rise to criminal prosecution under Section 340 of<\/p>\n<p>Cr.P.C. But in this case the High Court has proceeded on the basis that the<\/p>\n<p>second appellant spoke the `truth&#8217; in response to the question in the<\/p>\n<p>examination under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code. There is no finding that<\/p>\n<p>second appellant made a `false statement&#8217; in his examination under Order 10<\/p>\n<p>Rule 2 CPC. Therefore, the said decision will be inapplicable, even if it had<\/p>\n<p>been rightly decided.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>22.   Consequently, the decision of the court to consider initiation of<\/p>\n<p>proceedings under section 340 Cr.P.C. read with section 195 IPC in regard<\/p>\n<p>to an answer to a question put under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code is ill-<\/p>\n<p>conceived and wholly without jurisdiction.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nConclusion<\/p>\n<p>23.   In view of the above, this appeal is allowed. The order dated<\/p>\n<p>20.1.2009 of the Division Bench and the order dated 12.11.2008 of the<\/p>\n<p>learned Single Judge, directing the matter to be listed to consider whether<\/p>\n<p>the second appellant should be prosecuted under Section 340 Cr.P.C., are set<\/p>\n<p>aside. As the process of confrontation of an unexhibited document by<\/p>\n<p>covering portions of it by a court, is beyond the scope of examination under<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     23<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Order 10 Rule 2 of the code, the answer to such question shall be excluded<\/p>\n<p>from consideration and completely disregarded. The court conducting the<\/p>\n<p>trial and hearing arguments shall decide the suit in accordance with law on<\/p>\n<p>the basis of evidence placed and ignore the said `answer&#8217; under Order 10<\/p>\n<p>Rule 2 of the Code.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>24.   We make it clear that whatever we have stated or observed during the<\/p>\n<p>course of this Judgment, are only in the context of examining the correctness<\/p>\n<p>of the procedure adopted under Order 10 Rule 2 of the Code, and not<\/p>\n<p>intended to be findings of fact.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>                                            &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;J.<\/p>\n<pre>\n                                            (R V Raveendran)\n\n\n\nNew Delhi;                                  ..........................J.\nAugust 3, 2010.                             (H L Gokhale)\n<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; &#8230; vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010 Author: R.V.Raveendran Bench: R.V. Raveendran, H.L. Gokhale Reportable IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO OF 2010 [Arising out of SLP (C) No.19894\/2009] M\/s. Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd. &amp; Ors. &#8230; Appellants Vs. Shri [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; ... vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; ... vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-02T18:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-22T12:45:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@legaliadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Legal_india\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"27 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\"},\"headline\":\"M\\\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; &#8230; vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-02T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-22T12:45:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010\"},\"wordCount\":5349,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Supreme Court of India\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010\",\"name\":\"M\\\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; ... vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-02T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-22T12:45:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"M\\\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; &#8230; vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\",\"name\":\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"description\":\"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"alternateName\":\"Legal India\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/LegalindiaCom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Legal_india\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\",\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Legal India Admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/legaliadmin\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.legalindia.com\\\/judgments\\\/author\\\/legal-india-admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; ... vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; ... vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010","og_site_name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","article_published_time":"2010-08-02T18:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-22T12:45:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Legal India Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@legaliadmin","twitter_site":"@Legal_india","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Legal India Admin","Est. reading time":"27 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010"},"author":{"name":"Legal India Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea"},"headline":"M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; &#8230; vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010","datePublished":"2010-08-02T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-22T12:45:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010"},"wordCount":5349,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Supreme Court of India"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010","name":"M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; ... vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-02T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-22T12:45:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ms-kapil-corepacks-pvt-ltd-vs-harbans-lal-d-thr-lrs-on-3-august-2010#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"M\/S.Kapil Corepacks Pvt.Ltd.&amp; &#8230; vs Harbans Lal (D) Thr.Lrs on 3 August, 2010"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","description":"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization","name":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","alternateName":"Legal India","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Legal_india"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea","name":"Legal India Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Legal India Admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com","https:\/\/x.com\/legaliadmin"],"url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/author\/legal-india-admin"}]}},"modified_by":null,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}