Whether application for rejection of plaint can be filed at any stage?

Whether application for rejection of plaint can be filed at any stage?

We are afraid that the stand taken by the High Court in
the impugned order cannot be appreciated. An application
under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC can be filed at any stage, as
held by this Court in Sopan Sukhdeo Sable and others v.

Assistant Charity Commissioner and others (2004) 3 SCC 137
 … “The trial
court can exercise the power at any stage of the suit – before
registering the plaint or after issuing summons to the
defendant at any time before the conclusion of the trial. …”.
The only restriction is that the consideration of the application
for rejection should not be on the basis of the allegations made
by the defendant in his written statement or on the basis of the
allegations in the application for rejection of the plaint. The
court has to consider only the plaint as a whole, and in case,
the entire plaint comes under the situations covered by Order
VII Rule 11 (a) to (f) of the CPC, the same has to be rejected.

REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 5540 OF 2016
(Arising out of S.L.P.(C) No. 15474 of 2016)

R. K. ROJA Vs U. S. RAYUDU AND ANOTHER