Bombay High Court Dismisses Petitioner's Challenge to Amendment of Notice of Motion Date; Holds Error Clerical and Permissible Under CPC Sections 153 and 151. Court found that change of date from 4th September 2016 to 2nd November 2016 in prayer clause (c) of Notice of Motion did not alter the nature of relief and was merely correction of typographical error, causing no prejudice to defendants.

High Court: Bombay High Court Bench: BOMBAY
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Case Note & Summary

(1) Background: The dispute arises from the removal of respondent No.1, a trustee and employee of Balmohan Vidyamandir Trust, by two resolutions dated 4th September 2016 and 2nd November 2016. Respondent No.1 filed a suit seeking a declaration that the resolutions were void and moved a notice of motion for interim relief. (2) Facts: The trial court granted ad-interim injunction on 4th January 2017, restraining the defendants from acting on the 4th September 2016 resolution. The defendants appealed, and the High Court set aside the interim order on 13th August 2018, directing the trial court to decide the notice of motion expeditiously. Respondent No.1 then filed a chamber summons to amend prayer clause (c) of the notice of motion to substitute '2nd November 2016' for '4th September 2016', citing a typographical error. The trial court allowed the amendment on 27th September 2018, holding it tenable under Sections 153 and 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. (3) Legal Issues: The core questions were whether the amendment to correct a date in an interlocutory application was permissible, whether it changed the character of the relief, and whether it conflicted with the High Court's earlier order. (4) Arguments: The petitioner argued that the amendment fundamentally altered the relief sought, was not supported by any prayer in the plaint concerning the 2nd November 2016 resolution, and that respondent No.1 had been aware of the date throughout earlier proceedings. Respondent No.2 added that the High Court's direction to decide the notice of motion as it stood precluded any amendment. Respondent No.1 contended the error was inadvertent and would cause no prejudice. (5) Court's Analysis: The High Court found that the change of date was a clerical error rectifiable under Sections 153 and 151 CPC, as it did not alter the substance of the interim relief and no prejudice resulted to the defendants. The court rejected the argument that the amendment was impermissible under the High Court's direction, noting that the direction was to expedite disposal and did not bar amendment of pleadings. (6) Decision: The writ petition was dismissed, affirming the trial court's order allowing the amendment.

Headnote

{

"headline": "Bombay High Court Dismisses Petition Challenging Appointment of Trustees in Public Charitable Trust — Petitioner Lacks Locus Standi as Dispute Pertains to Internal Management of Trust. Court holds that a trustee cannot challenge the appointment of other trustees by the Board of Trustees under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, as such decisions are within the domain of the trust's internal management and not subject to challenge by a co-trustee.",

"lawPoints": "Locus standi, Internal management of trust, Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, Sections 41A, 50, 70, 72, 79, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 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Issue of Consideration

Whether the amendment of prayer clause (c) in a notice of motion to change the date from '4th September 2016' to '2nd November 2016' is permissible under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and whether such amendment alters the nature of the relief sought or runs counter to the High Court's earlier direction.

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Final Decision

Decision not clearly stated

Law Points

  • Legal points not extracted
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Case Details

2026 LawText (BOM) (06) 181

Writ Petition (Stamp) No. 28570 of 2018

2019-10-17

N. J. Jamadar, J.

Citation not available

Mr. A.Y. Sakhare, Senior Advocate a/w Mr. Prashant P. Chavan for petitioner; Mr. V.S. Kapse for respondent No.1; Mrs. Deepa P. Chavan for respondent No.2; Mr. Rohan Karande for respondent No.3; Mr. Vijay Patil for respondent No.4; Ms. Reshmarani Nathani for respondent No.7

Dr. Anand Utture

1. Shri Girish Moreshwar Rege, 2. Shri Guruprasad Rege, 3. Shri Dattatraya Rege, 4. Shri Makarand Bhonsle, 5. Shri Rajesh Nadkarni, 6. Smt. Supriya Nair, 7. Balmohan Vidyamandir Trust

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Nature of Litigation

Writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the order of the City Civil Court allowing amendment of prayer clause in an interlocutory notice of motion in a suit concerning removal of a trustee.

Remedy Sought

The petitioner (defendant No.4 in the suit) seeks quashing of the order dated 27 September 2018 passed by the Judge, City Civil Court, Bombay in Chamber Summons No.1713 of 2018 in S.C. Suit No.2617 of 2016.

Filing Reason

The petitioner contends that the amendment changes the nature of the interim relief sought and was not permissible in law, and that the trial court exceeded its jurisdiction by allowing the chamber summons.

Previous Decisions

The trial court had granted ad-interim injunction on 4 January 2017 which was challenged by defendants in Appeal from Order No.27 of 2017; the High Court set aside the interim order on 13 August 2018 and directed expeditious disposal of the notice of motion.

Issues

Whether amendment of notice of motion to correct a date in a prayer clause is permissible under Sections 153 and 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 Whether such amendment changes the nature of the interim relief sought Whether the amendment runs counter to the directions of the High Court in the earlier appeal from order

Submissions/Arguments

Petitioner argued that the amendment altered the nature of the relief, was not supported by any prayer in the plaint related to the 2 November 2016 resolution, and that the plaintiff could not have been unaware of the date having argued the matter at length earlier. Respondent No.2 contended that the High Court's direction to decide the notice of motion as it stood precluded any amendment, and that the plaintiff's conduct in claiming PF benefits after the 4 September 2016 resolution showed an oblique motive. Respondent No.1 argued that the correction was a bonafide typographical error, did not change the substance of the relief, and would cause no prejudice to the defendants.

Ratio Decidendi

Ratio not explicitly mentioned

Judgment Excerpts

The learned Judge was, however, persuaded to allow the Chamber Summons holding, inter-alia, that though the relief in the Chamber Summons may not be within the ambit of the provisions contained in Order VI Rule 17 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (‘Code’), yet it was tenable under section 153 and 151 of the Code. the plaintiff had called in question the legality and validity of two resolutions, dated 4 th September 2016 and 2 nd November 2016, the relief in terms of prayer clause (c) ought to be in accord with the prayers in the suit and no prejudice was likely to be caused to the defendants It defies comprehension that the plaintiff could not have noticed the alleged mistake in mentioning the date, urged Shri Sakhare.

Procedural History

Respondent No.1 (plaintiff) was removed from his position by resolutions dated 4 September 2016 and 2 November 2016. He filed S.C. Suit No. 2617 of 2016 and took out Notice of Motion No. 4473 of 2016 for interim relief. On 4 January 2017, the trial court granted ad-interim injunction. The defendants appealed in Appeal from Order No. 27 of 2017. The High Court initially directed status quo on 25 January 2017, and on 13 August 2018 set aside the interim order and directed expeditious disposal of the notice of motion. Respondent No.1 then filed Chamber Summons No. 1713 of 2018 to amend prayer clause (c) of the notice of motion to correct the date. On 27 September 2018, the trial court allowed the chamber summons. The petitioner (defendant No.4) filed the present writ petition challenging that order. The High Court heard the petition on 22 July 2019 and pronounced judgment on 17 October 2019.

Acts & Sections

  • Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950: Section 50A(1)
  • Code of Civil Procedure, 1908: Order VI Rule 17, Section 153, Section 151
  • Constitution of India: Article 226
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