Territorial jurisdiction objection and waiver under civil procedure were limited where timely protest and no failure of justice were shown.

An objection to territorial jurisdiction under Sections 15 to 20 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 may be waived by conduct, but waiver depends on the defendant's participation without timely protest. A stay application under the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940 does not by itself amount to submission to the court's jurisdiction where the objection is raised at the earliest opportunity and maintained throughout. Section 21 of the Code bars such an objection in appeal or revision only when the suit has been tried on the merits and a consequent failure of justice is shown; that condition was not met here.

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Issues: Whether the defendants waived their objection to the territorial jurisdiction of the Cochin Court by their conduct, including the application for stay under the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940, and whether the objection was barred in appeal under Section 21 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 in the absence of a consequent failure of justice.

Analysis: An objection to the place of suing under Sections 15 to 20 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 can be waived, and a defendant who allows the suit to proceed on the merits without protest may be precluded from later raising it. But here the defendants objected at the earliest opportunity, expressly challenged jurisdiction in the stay petition, persisted in that objection throughout, and never submitted to the Court's jurisdiction. Their application under Section 34 and the appeal under Section 39 of the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940 did not amount to an admission that the Cochin Court had jurisdiction to try the suit. Section 21 of the Code bars such an objection in appellate or revisional proceedings only where there has been a consequent failure of justice after trial on the merits; since the suit had not yet been tried on the merits, that condition was not satisfied.

Conclusion: The territorial jurisdiction objection was not waived, and the bar under Section 21 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 did not apply. The objection remained open to the defendants.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, and the orders treating the objection as waived were set aside while the trial and appellate orders on jurisdiction were restored.

Ratio Decidendi: An objection to territorial jurisdiction may be waived by conduct, but filing and pursuing an application for stay of suit under the Arbitration Act does not itself amount to waiver; the statutory bar under Section 21 of the Code applies only when the suit has been tried on the merits and a consequent failure of justice is shown.

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