Mgmt Of M/S Devi Theatre vs Vishwanath Raju

The Supreme Court held that the imposition of a condition requiring a deposit for the admission of an appeal under Section 96 of the Civil Procedure Code is not legally justified. The Court clarified that while a court may dismiss an appeal at the admission stage if it lacks merit, it cannot condition admission on the deposit of money, as this has no bearing on the merits of the case. The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's order imposing the deposit condition, and restored the appeal for consideration on its merits.