Res judicata requires a final decision on the real dispute; a dismissal on the alleged bar does not block the appeal.

Res judicata under section 11 CPC applies only when the earlier proceeding has finally decided the same matter directly and substantially in issue. A dismissal that rests only on an asserted res judicata bar, without determining the substantive questions of ownership or possession, does not amount to a final adjudication of the real dispute. Where the same matter is already pending in appeal, the proper course is to await that decision rather than treat the earlier provisional dismissal as creating an operative bar. The objection therefore failed, and the appeal remained open for hearing on merits.

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Issues: Whether the appeal was barred by res judicata on account of the dismissal of the connected suit.

Analysis: Section 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure applies only when the matter directly and substantially in issue in the later proceeding has been heard and finally decided by a competent court in the former proceeding. The prior dismissal relied upon by the respondents was itself based only on the plea of res judicata and did not decide the substantive dispute regarding ownership or possession of the disputed land. A decision that merely refuses to try the controversy because of an alleged bar does not amount to a final adjudication of the real issues in the suit. The proper course, where the same matter is already pending in appeal, is to await that decision rather than treat the provisional dismissal as creating an operative bar.

Conclusion: The objection of res judicata failed, and the appeal was not barred.

Final Conclusion: The preliminary objection was rejected, and the appeal remained open for hearing on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: For res judicata to operate, the earlier decision must finally determine the substantive issue in controversy; a ruling that merely dismisses a suit on the supposed bar of res judicata does not constitute such a final decision.

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