If the parties are absent, the court below ought not to have decide the matter on merits

Pani and Anr. v. Vasudevan 

(1988)1 M.L.J. 400, 

this Court had occasion to consider the scope of Order 17, Rules 2 and 3, Civil Procedure Code and held that if the parties are absent, the court below ought not to have decide the matter on merits