On August 12, 2026, the esteemed Supreme Court of India delivered a significant judgment in the matter of Bassanna (Deceased) by LRs. and Others versus Bhimanna and Others. The case concerned an appeal contesting a 2022 ruling by the Karnataka High Court that nullified a decision made by a first appellate court, which had approved a composite appeal lodged by the plaintiff against a joint judgment rendered in two civil cases. The Supreme Court needed to decide if a single composite appeal contesting a shared judgement issued in two cases filed by the same plaintiff is permissible under Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
The appellants’ predecessor had initiated two lawsuits regarding the same property, which were combined for trial and rejected by a single judgment. The plaintiff has submitted a combined appeal along with certified copies of each decree and has paid the complete court fee for both cases. The first appellate court ruled on both suits, but the High Court believed that two distinct appeals were required, and for this technical reason alone, the High Court overturned the ruling.
Nonetheless, a Bench consisting of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar deemed the High Court’s approach to be erroneous. The Court noted that when two cases initiated by the same plaintiff are combined, heard simultaneously, and determined by a shared judgment, a joint appeal against that judgment is permissible if the court fees for both decrees are paid and the certified copies of the two decrees are submitted. Failing to submit separate memoranda was primarily a correctable ‘form’ defect, and the plaintiff ought to have been allowed to fix it instead of forfeiting his substantive right to appeal.
In its conclusive ruling, the Supreme Court has overturned the High Court’s decision and sent both second appeals back to the High Court for re-evaluation based on their merits. The ruling emphasizes that procedural formalities must not undermine a litigant’s fundamental right to appeal and clarifies the validity of combined appeals concerning shared judgments in cases initiated by the same plaintiff.