Representative Suit – Process Under Order 1 Rule 8 CPC Not Mandatory At Appellate Stage : Kerala High Court

Answering a reference against a division bench judgment, a 3-judge bench of the Kerala High Court has held that the publication of notice under Order 1 Rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure is not mandatory at the appellate stage of a representative suit. A 3-judge bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar, V Shircy and K Haripal declared that the division bench judgment in Radha K.S. v. Sadasivan and another [2017 (1)KHC 118 : 2017 (1) KLT 102], which held that provisions of Order 1 Rule 8 CPC are to be complied with at the appellate stage, was “not correctly decided”. The question referred to the bench was : “Is an appeal preferred against a decree passed in a representative suit incompetent, without making a further publication under sub-rule (2) of Rule 8 of Order I of the Code of Civil Procedure?” The reference was made by a single bench which doubted the correctness of the decision in Radha K.S. v. Sadasivan and another. While the single bench referred the matter to a division bench, in 2017, a division bench endorsed the views of the single bench, and further referred the matter to a 3-judge bench, as Radha was a decision rendered by a coordinate bench.