Pendency of criminal proceedings does not automatically stay a civil suit; real embarrassment or special circumstances must be shown.

Pendency of a criminal case does not automatically justify staying a civil suit arising from the same facts. A stay may be ordered only where continuation of the civil proceedings would cause real embarrassment to the accused or otherwise be unjust on the specific circumstances; the mere possibility of conflicting findings is not enough. The effect of one proceeding on another depends on the nature of the judgment and the statutory conditions governing relevance and conclusiveness. Applying that principle, the stay of the civil suit was not sustained and the civil proceedings were directed to continue.

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Issues: Whether the High Court was justified in staying the civil suit proceedings until the criminal case was decided.

Analysis: The governing principle is that there is no rigid rule requiring either the civil or the criminal proceeding to be stayed merely because both arise from the same facts. The possibility of conflicting decisions in the two forums is not, by itself, a relevant ground for stay. The relevant consideration is whether continuation of the civil suit would cause real embarrassment to the accused or otherwise make the course unjust in the circumstances. The Evidence Act provisions on relevancy and conclusiveness of judgments also show that the effect of one proceeding on another depends on the nature of the judgment and the statutory conditions for its relevance.

Conclusion: The stay of the civil suit was not justified, and the order of the High Court could not be sustained.

Final Conclusion: The civil suit was directed to proceed in accordance with law, and the appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Pendency of a criminal case does not automatically warrant stay of a civil suit; such a stay can be ordered only on a case-specific assessment showing real embarrassment or other compelling special circumstances, and not merely because conflicting findings are possible.

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