Order 2 Rule 2 CPC bars a later damages suit when the omitted relief arose from the same cause of action.

A subsequent suit for damages was barred under Order 2 Rule 2 CPC where the omitted relief arose from the same cause of action as the earlier suit and was available when that suit was filed. The court held that a plaintiff must claim the whole cause of action in one proceeding unless leave is obtained, and a later suit cannot split an existing claim into separate litigation when no fresh cause of action intervened. The plaint was therefore liable to rejection under Order 7 Rule 11, the appeal succeeded, the High Court's order was set aside, and the District Court's rejection of the plaint was restored.

---

---

Issues: Whether the subsequent suit was barred under Order 2 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure because the relief of damages could and ought to have been claimed in the earlier suit.

Analysis: Order 2 Rule 2 requires a plaintiff to include the whole claim arising from the same cause of action and bars a later suit in respect of a portion of the claim omitted or intentionally relinquished, unless leave of court was obtained. The bar applies only where the earlier and later suits arise from the same cause of action and the plaintiff was entitled to seek the omitted relief in the first suit. On the pleadings and reliefs in both suits, the facts giving rise to the damages claim existed before the earlier suit was filed, and no fresh cause of action intervened between the two suits. The later suit therefore represented an impermissible splitting of a single cause of action.

Conclusion: The subsequent suit was barred by Order 2 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure and the plaint was liable to be rejected under Order 7 Rule 11.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the High Court's order was set aside, and the District Court's rejection of the plaint stood restored.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the later suit arises from the same cause of action as the earlier suit and the omitted relief was available when the first suit was filed, a second suit for that omitted relief is barred by Order 2 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

---