Running account claims cannot be treated as summary suits when the suit amount must be proved through later account adjustments.

A claim for recovery based on a running account, compromise deed and later statements of account is not maintainable as a summary suit under Order XXXVII CPC unless a written instrument itself discloses a liquidated demand or admitted liability. Where the suit amount must be worked out from multiple agreements, repayment schedules, subsequent payments and account entries, the claim is one for balance due at the foot of the account and requires proof beyond the written contract. The court therefore held that the suit did not fall within the limited scope of Order XXXVII, granted the defendants leave to defend, and directed the matter to proceed as an ordinary suit with costs.

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Issues: Whether a suit for recovery based on a running account, compromise deed and subsequent statements of account, claiming a balance different from the original loan amount, is maintainable as a summary suit under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Analysis: Order XXXVII is an exceptional procedure confined to suits founded on written instruments that themselves disclose a liquidated demand or an admitted liability. Where the amount claimed is not the amount stated in the original written contract, but is required to be worked out from multiple agreements, later repayment schedules, subsequent payments and statements of account over different periods, the claim is one for the balance due at the foot of the account. Such a claim requires proof of account entries and cannot be treated as a direct liquidated demand arising from a written instrument. The pleadings in the suit did not show any single written contract containing the specific suit amount, and the supporting accounts did not establish the claimed figure as a liquidated sum directly payable under Order XXXVII.

Conclusion: The suit was not maintainable under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and the defendants were entitled to leave to defend. The matter was directed to proceed as an ordinary suit with costs imposed on the plaintiff.

Ratio Decidendi: A claim that requires determination from running accounts and subsequent adjustments, rather than from a written instrument itself disclosing a liquidated liability, does not fall within the limited scope of a summary suit under Order XXXVII.

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