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Supreme Court of India· 12 August 2026

What are the three conditions that must coexist for a court to grant a temporary injunction under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908?

SHRUTI MANAV SHARMA & ANR v. SUNANINA SINGH & ORS
2026 INSC 843
Coram: Alok Aradhe; Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha
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Answer

A prima facie case, meaning a substantial question raised bona fide requiring investigation and not a case proved to the hilt; a balance of convenience, requiring the court to weigh the injury the plaintiff would suffer if the injunction were refused against the injury the defendant would suffer if it were granted; and an irreparable injury which cannot be adequately compensated in damages.

Headnote

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order XLIII Rule 1(r) — Appellate interference with discretionary injunction — Temporary injunction — Trinity test — Prima facie case — Balance of convenience — Irreparable injury — Vice of the mini-trial — Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order XLIII Rule 1(r) — Limited scope of appellate interference — Held: An order on an application for temporary injunction is discretionary, and an appellate court does not undertake a fresh reconsideration of the entire matter or substitute its own view merely because it might have arrived at a different conclusion on the same material; interference is warranted only where the discretion has been exercised arbitrarily, capriciously, perversely, mala fide, upon an irrelevant or extraneous consideration, or contrary to settled legal principles, the guiding test being whether a reasonable person could have reached the same conclusion on the material before the trial court. (¶13, 36, 39) Temporary injunction — Trinity test — Prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable injury — Held further: The grant of a temporary injunction rests on three coexisting conditions: a prima facie case, meaning a substantial question raised bona fide requiring investigation and not a case proved to the hilt; a balance of convenience requiring the court to weigh the injury to the plaintiff against the corresponding injury to the defendant were the uncertainty to be resolved against each; and an irreparable injury which cannot be adequately compensated in damages; where these three conditions coexist, as found by the court of first instance on the material before it, its exercise of discretion cannot be faulted merely because an appellate court would have weighed the same material differently. (¶24, 28, 31, 35) Temporary injunction — Interlocutory stage — Vice of the mini-trial — Held further: The scope of examination on an application for interim injunction, and equally of an appeal against an order made on such an application, is confined to the limited and threshold question whether the plaintiff has shown a serious dispute meriting investigation at trial; it does not extend to an examination of the final effect, probative value or ultimate merits of the documents annexed to the pleadings, and courts must confine such orders to recording, with reasons, their findings on the three settled conditions without embarking upon what is, in substance, a mini-trial upon affidavits and documents that properly await the leading of evidence. (¶37, 38, 40)

In the Court's own words
Paragraph 24The threshold for a prima facie case is a modest one. It does not require proof of title; it requires only that the claim not be frivolous or vexatious – a serious question to be tried. A prima facie case does not mean a case proved to the hilt but a case which can be said to be established if the evidence which is led in support of the same were believed. While determining whether a prima facie case had been made out, the relevant consideration is whether on the evidence led it was possible to arrive at the conclusion in question and as to whether that was the only conclusion which could be arrived at on that evidence[^9].
Paragraph 28The Court, while dealing with the prayer for injunction has also to advert itself to the second essential ingredient for grant of injunction viz. ‘balance of convenience’. In order to determine whether the balance of convenience lies, the Court must weigh two matters. The first is to protect the plaintiff against injury by violation of his rights for which he could not be adequately compensated in damages recoverable in the action if the uncertainty were to be resolved in his favour. The second matter is that the defendant’s need to be protected against injury resulting from his having been prevented from exercising his own legal rights for which he could not be adequately compensated by an undertaking if the uncertainty were to be resolved in defendant’s favour at the trial[^11].
Paragraph 31The Court, while dealing with the prayer for grant of injunction is required to consider the third essential ingredient viz. irreparable injury. This Court in Gujarat Bottling Co. Ltd. & Ors. (supra) has held that the Court is required to satisfy itself that the party seeking injunction needs protection from the consequences of apprehended injury and the injury is such which cannot be adequately compensated by way of damages. Thus, the Court is required to satisfy itself that in case an injunction as prayed for is not granted, the party seeking the same will suffer irreparable injury.
Acts & Sections
Order XLIII Rule 1(r) Code of Civil Procedure, 1908Order XXXIX Rule 1 Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s.94 Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s.151 Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s.36 Specific Relief Act, 1963s.37(1) Specific Relief Act, 1963s.89 Companies Act, 2013s.14 Hindu Succession Act, 1956

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Also decided in this judgment
What is the scope of an appellate court's power under Order XLIII Rule 1(r) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 to interfere with a discretionary order granting or refusing a temporary injunction?Can a court, while deciding an application for temporary injunction under Order XXXIX of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, conduct a detailed, merits-based analysis of disputed documents to assess the probable outcome at trial?Where properties are alleged to have been acquired using proceeds traceable to shareholding procured by undue influence, does the availability of a subsequent money decree adequately compensate the plaintiff, such that an interlocutory injunction restraining alienation should be refused?
Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Supreme Court of India. Corrections