Inherent power may restore possession after breach of injunction when punitive contempt-style remedies are inadequate.

Where a party is forcibly dispossessed in breach of an existing interim injunction, Order 39 Rule 2A of the Civil P.C. operates as a punitive mechanism but does not provide immediate restorative relief. The court may therefore invoke its inherent power under Section 151 of the Civil P.C. to prevent abuse of process and restore the status quo ante by granting a temporary mandatory injunction. The principle applied is that the Code is not exhaustive, and inherent jurisdiction can be used where justice requires prompt intervention to undo disobedience of an injunction.

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Issues: Whether the court can, in exercise of its inherent power, grant a temporary mandatory injunction restoring possession to a party who has been forcibly dispossessed in violation of an interim injunction, notwithstanding the remedy under Order 39, Rule 2A of the Civil P.C.

Analysis: Order 39, Rule 2A provides a punitive mechanism to secure obedience to an injunction, but it does not furnish immediate restorative relief to the party wronged by disobedience. The remedy under that provision was treated as insufficient where the opposite party had already been dispossessed in breach of the subsisting injunction. In such a situation, the court was held not to be powerless to act under Section 151 of the Civil P.C. to prevent abuse of process and to do real justice by restoring the status quo ante. The reasoning drew support from the principle that the Code is not exhaustive and that inherent power may be invoked where justice requires immediate intervention.

Conclusion: The court held that a temporary mandatory injunction restoring possession could validly be granted under Section 151 of the Civil P.C. in the circumstances of the case, and the impugned order was justified.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a party is forcibly dispossessed in breach of an existing injunction, the court may invoke its inherent power under Section 151 of the Civil P.C. to restore possession by a temporary mandatory injunction, since the remedy under Order 39, Rule 2A is punitive and does not itself afford immediate restorative relief.

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