Order II Rule 2 bar requires proof of the earlier plaint and identical cause of action before omission of relief can be shown.

A plea under Order II Rule 2(3) CPC is a technical bar and succeeds only if the defendant proves that the later suit and the earlier suit arose from the same cause of action, that the plaintiff was entitled to more than one relief on that cause of action, and that one relief was omitted without leave. The earlier plaint must be produced on record because the precise cause of action in the former suit cannot be assumed from references in the later plaint. In the absence of the earlier pleadings, the court cannot speculate on the factual foundation of the omitted relief, so the bar was not established and the remand order stood.

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Issues: Whether a plea under Order II Rule 2(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure could succeed without the pleadings in the earlier suit being produced on record to establish identity of cause of action and omission of a relief in respect of the same cause of action.

Analysis: A plea under Order II Rule 2(3) is a technical bar and the defendant who raises it must prove, first, that the later suit and the earlier suit arise from the same cause of action, secondly, that the plaintiff was entitled in that earlier cause of action to more than one relief, and thirdly, that one such relief was omitted without leave. The foundation of the plea is the precise cause of action pleaded in the previous suit, and that cannot be assumed or inferred merely from references in the later plaint. The pleadings of the former suit must therefore be brought on the record so that the court can verify the factual basis of the earlier claim. In the absence of the earlier plaint, the court cannot speculate as to the averments on which the omitted relief was founded.

Conclusion: The plea of bar under Order II Rule 2(3) was not established and the remand order was ; the decision was against the appellant.

Ratio Decidendi: A plea under Order II Rule 2(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure can be sustained only by proving the pleadings of the earlier suit so as to establish the identity of the cause of action and the omitted relief.

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