res judicata non-party applicability

This Supreme Court judgment addresses whether a suit can be dismissed as barred by res judicata under Order VII Rule 11 CPC when the plaintiff was not a party to the previous proceedings. The Court ruled that such a determination requires detailed analysis of prior pleadings and cannot be summarily decided at the stage of rejecting the plaint. The order of the High Court and the Trial Court rejecting the plaint was set aside, restoring the suit for full trial.