Inherent powers of Court — Every procedure is permissible for a Court for doing justice unless express prohibited — CPC section 151.

The appellant was the plaintiff in a suit filed before the Court of the Civil Judge, Varanasi. He filed an application to withdraw the said suit. Subsequently he changed his mind and before an order could be passed in the withdrawal application he filed an application praying for withdrawal of the earlier withdrawal application. The second application was dismissed and that order was upheld by the High Court.

The Supreme Court held that rules of procedure are handmaids of justice. Section 151 of the Code of Code of Civil Procedure gives inherent powers to the Court to do justice. That provision has to be interpreted to mean that every procedure is permitted to the Court for doing justice unless expressly prohibited, and not that every procedure is prohibited unless expressly permitted. Courts are not to act upon the principle that every procedure is to be taken as prohibited unless it is expressly provided for by the Code, but on the converse principle that every procedure is to be understood as permissible till it is shown to be prohibited by the law. As a matter of general principle prohibition cannot be presumed. There is no express bar in filing an application for withdrawal of the withdrawal application.

The application praying for withdrawal of the withdrawal application was maintainable.