Appellate remand limits under CPC: wholesale retrial is impermissible when the existing record allows full adjudication.

An appellate court can order remand only within the express limits of Order 41 Rules 23, 23A, 25 and 27 CPC; where the suit has been decided on all issues and the existing pleadings and evidence permit adjudication, a fresh trial is impermissible. The High Court could not resort to inherent powers to bypass the Code's specific remand provisions, and omission of an issue or pleading did not, on these facts, justify wholesale remand. The remand order was therefore unsustainable and was set aside, with the matter restored to the High Court for fresh decision on the existing record and any admitted subsequent events.

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Issues: Whether the High Court was justified in setting aside the trial court decree and remanding the suit for fresh trial by framing additional issues under Order 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Analysis: The remand was tested against the express scheme of Order 41 Rules 23, 23A, 25 and 27 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. Wholesale remand is permissible only where the trial court has disposed of the case on a preliminary point and the finding is reversed, or where a retrial becomes necessary after reversal of the decree, or where a limited remand is required on specific omitted issues. The Court held that the suit had been decided on all issues by the trial court, that the High Court had itself recorded findings on some matters, and that the controversy did not warrant a retrial. It also held that the High Court could not invoke inherent powers where the Code contained express provisions governing remand. The pleadings and evidence already available were sufficient for adjudication, and any omission regarding an issue or pleading did not justify a fresh trial in the facts of the case.

Conclusion: The High Court's order of remand was not sustainable in law and was set aside.

Final Conclusion: The matter was restored to the High Court for decision afresh on the existing record, with liberty to consider admitted subsequent events and to exercise appellate powers only in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: An appellate court cannot order a remand except within the express limits of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and a remand is impermissible where the existing record enables adjudication without a retrial.

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