Supervening events can render a suit infructuous, and interim injunctions cannot keep a dead cause of action alive.

Supervening events that extinguish the underlying cause of action may be taken into account by the civil court, and its inherent power under Section 151 CPC can be used to prevent abuse of process. Where a subsequent termination notice superseded the earlier notice on which the suit was founded, the suit became infructuous and could not be kept alive merely to preserve an interim injunction. An interlocutory order is only ancillary to the main proceeding, and once no lawful purpose remains in continuing the suit, the court may dismiss it as infructuous.

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Issues: Whether an application under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 was maintainable to seek dismissal of a suit that had become infructuous because of subsequent events, and whether the suit could be kept pending merely to preserve an interim injunction.

Analysis: The suit was founded on an earlier termination notice, but that notice had been superseded by a subsequent termination notice. The governing principle was that subsequent events which fundamentally affect the right to relief may be taken into account, and that the court may exercise inherent powers to prevent abuse of process where no express provision prohibits such relief. An interlocutory order is only ancillary to the main proceeding and cannot be allowed to keep an infructuous suit alive. If the cause of action has disappeared, continuation of the suit serves no lawful purpose and the prejudice to the defendant in prolonging such litigation outweighs any advantage claimed from preserving interim protection.

Conclusion: The application under Section 151 was maintainable, and the suit ought to have been dismissed as infructuous; the appellant succeeded.

Final Conclusion: A civil court can take note of supervening events that extinguish the cause of action and may dismiss the proceeding to prevent abuse of process, even if the practical effect is that an interim order comes to an end.

Ratio Decidendi: Where supervening events render the underlying cause of action extinct, the court may invoke its inherent powers to dispose of the suit as infructuous, and an interlocutory order cannot be preserved by keeping the main proceeding alive.

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