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Judgment
Odgers, J.—The suit is filed against decisions of the Head Surveyor and Assistant Director of Survey u/s 13 of the Survey and Boundaries
Act, 1897. The survey authorities decided that certain plots of lands were not, as alleged by the plaintiff, within the boundaries of the village of
Inagaloor, of which he is the proprietor. The Subordinate Judge has found the suit bad for multifariousness and put plaintiff to his election on the
ground that the disputes are not connected with each other. He also speaks of encroachments, but I am unable to see any reference to such in the
plaint. Now under the old Code it was held in Doraiswamy Pillai v. Muthuswami Moopan (1904) 27 Mad. 94 that a suit might be brought against
a number of purchasers of different items of land distrained and sold under the Rent Recovery Act as the cause of action, viz., the wrongful sale,
was the same against all the defendants. So here in my opinion it is the decisions of the survey authorities, and it should be remarked that all the
objections seem to have been dealt with in a single order both by the Head Surveyor and by the Assistant Director, that are common cause of
action. The same question in the case is whether plots in the possession of each defendant are or are not included in the village of Inagaloor, and I
think a right of relief in respect of the same act or series of acts (viz., the decisions referred to above) exists against them severally under Order 1,
Rule 3, Civil P.C. If separate suits were brought the common question of fact would be whether the plots should be included in the village of
Inagaloor. The respondents do not appear. The Subordinate Judge was wrong. His order must be set aside and the suit proceeded with.