: 1 : IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.6843 OF WRIT PETITION NO.6843 OF WRIT PETITION NO.6843 OF 2008 2008 2008 WITH WITH WITH CIVIL APPLICATION NO.2826 OF 2008 CIVIL APPLICATION NO.2826 OF 2008 CIVIL APPLICATION NO.2826 OF 2008 Koil Pillai Anthony Raj ...Petitioner. V/s. The Union of India ...Respondents. Mr.Anil K. Kulla i/by V.Jaganathan & D.M.Manoharan , advs. for the Petitioner. Mr.P.S.Dani, adv. for the applicant in Civil Application. Mr.T.J.Pandian , adv. for the Respondent. CORAM: Bilal Nazki CORAM: Bilal Nazki CORAM: Bilal Nazki & J.H.Bhatia,JJ J.H.Bhatia,JJ J.H.Bhatia,JJ. DATE : 16th December, 2008. DATE : 16th December, 2008. DATE : 16th December, 2008. P.C.: P.C.: P.C.: 1. Heard the learned counsel for the Parties. 2. Rule. Rule. Rule. 3. With consent of the parties, matter is taken up for final hearing. 4. Grievance of the petitioner is against the order passed by the City Civil Court, Bombay in S.C.Suit No.4345 of 1978 on 17th September, 2007. The suit filed by the petitioner is pending since 1978. When the trial was going : 2 : on, the City Civil Court passed an order on 7-8-1998 holding that the City Civil Court had no jurisdiction over the matter and the suit was ordered to be transferred to the Central Administrative Tribunal, which had the jurisdiction over the matter. Petitioner went to the Tribunal and the Tribunal by its order dated 28.3.2003 held that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction over the matter as the petitioner is a member of the R.P.F. which is a Armed Force of the Union of India and according to Section 2(a) of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985, the tribunal does not have jurisdiction. Therefore, it referred the matter back to the Civil Court in terms of Section 29(6). The Civil Court again entertained the matter in 2003 and the Registrar of the Civil Court issued letters to the parties to appear before it. Trial proceeded till the Union of India raised an objection in 2007 that the suit was not maintainable. The learned Judge gave a strange logic to agree with the Union of India that the Civil Court had no jurisdiction on the ground that the Civil Court had passed an order in 1998 and that order had become final. We do not understand the logic of this order. In 1998, the Civil Court passed an order holding that it had no jurisdiction and jurisdiction was with the Tribunal. The Tribunal considered the matter and found that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction and referred the matter back to the Civil Court. Therefore, the order passed by the Civil Court in : 3 : 1998 had got merged with the order of the tribunal. At best the Civil Court should have gone into the question as to whether it had jurisdiction to entertain the matter or not. Since admittedly, the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the matter when the petitioner claims to have been in the service of the Railway Protection Force, therefore, the Civil Court had jurisdiction. For the last ten years, petitioner is going from one forum to another and no forum is entertaining his matter. 5. In this view of the matter, we set aside the order passed by the Civil Court and direct the Civil Court to decide the matter on merits. No plea of the jurisdiction shall be entertained by the Judge while deciding the matter. We are told that evidence of both parties is complete, written submissions are filed on 19-6-2007. Therefore, we direct that the learned Judge shall hear the counsel for both the parties and pass an appropriate order and dispose off the matter within a period of six weeks. Parties and their counsel are directed to appear before the Civil Judge on 17th January, 2009. 6. Writ Petition stands disposed off. : 4 : 7. As the writ petition itself is disposed off, civil application does not survive and stands disposed off accordingly. (Bilal Nazki, J.) (Bilal Nazki, J.) (Bilal Nazki, J.) (J.H.Bhatia, J.) (J.H.Bhatia, J.) (J.H.Bhatia, J.)