Strict Section 80 CPC notice compliance required for joint plaintiffs; defective notice can invalidate an inseparable suit.

Strict compliance with Section 80 CPC is required before suing the Government, and the notice must match the identity of the plaintiff or plaintiffs who actually institute the suit. A notice issued by only one of two joint plaintiffs was held insufficient where the relief was claimed jointly, making the defect fatal to maintainability. The Court also stated that rejection under Order 7 Rule 11 CPC is not limited to part of a plaint where the claim is joint and inseparable; failure against the Government could therefore defeat the connected claim against the other defendants as well, and the plaints were liable to be rejected or dismissed as a whole.

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Issues: Whether a suit against the Government was maintainable when the notice under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 was issued by only one of two plaintiffs, and whether the plaint could be rejected or the suit dismissed only in part.

Analysis: Section 80 was treated as express, explicit and mandatory, requiring strict compliance with its terms. The notice had to correspond with the plaintiff or plaintiffs who institute the suit, and a notice by one plaintiff was not sufficient when the suit was brought jointly by two plaintiffs claiming relief for both. The defect was held to be fatal to the maintainability of the suit. The Court also held that rejection under Order 7, Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is not confined to a part of the plaint where the claim is joint and indivisible, and that failure against the Government necessarily defeated the connected claim against the other defendants.

Conclusion: The suits were not maintainable for want of proper notice under Section 80, and the plaints were liable to rejection or dismissal as a whole.

Ratio Decidendi: Where Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 applies, the notice must strictly conform to the identity of the plaintiff or plaintiffs instituting the suit, and non-compliance is fatal where the relief claimed is joint and inseparable.

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