Rule 1.
Withdrawal of suit or abandonment of part of claim
Provided that where the plaintiff is a minor or other person to whom the provisions contained in rules 1 to 14 of Order XXXII extend, neither the suit nor any part of the claim shall be abandoned without the leave of the Court.
Rule 1A.
When transposition of defendants as plaintiffs may be permitted
Where a suit is withdrawn or abandoned by a plaintiff under rule 1, and a defendant applies to be transposed as a plaintiff under rule 10 of Order I the Court shall, in considering such application, have due regard to the question whether the applicant has a substantial question to be decided as against any of the other defendants.
Rule 3.
Compromise of suit
Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that a suit has been adjusted wholly or in part by any lawful agreement or compromise in writing and signed by the parties or where the defendant satisfies the plaintiff in respect of the whole or any part of the subject-matter of the suit, the Court shall order such agreement, compromise or satisfaction to be recorded, and shall pass a decree in accordance therewith so far as it relates to the parties unto the suit, whether or not the subject-matter of the agreement, compromise or satisfaction is the same as the subject-matter of the suit:
Provided that where it is alleged by one party and denied by the other that an adjustment or satisfaction has been arrived at, the Court shall decide the question; but no adjournment shall be granted for the purpose of deciding the question, unless the Court, for reasons to be recorded in writing, thinks fit to grant such adjournment.
Explanation — An agreement or compromise which is void or voidable under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, shall not be deemed to be lawful within the meaning of this rule.
Rule 3A.
Bar to suit
No suit shall lie to set aside a decree on the ground that the compromise on which the decree is based was not lawful.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Order XXIII
Order XXIII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 regulates the withdrawal and adjustment of suits, prescribing conditions for granting liberty to institute fresh suits under Rule 1 and governing compromise decrees under Rule 3.
Abandonment without leave bars a fresh suit under Rule 1(4).
Under Order XXIII Rule 3A, a party alleging that their consent was obtained by coercion or fraud cannot file a fresh declaratory suit to cancel the compromise decree; they must file an application under the proviso to Rule 3 before the *same court* that recorded the compromise. When withdrawing a suit to cure a defect, the formal defect must be specifically identified in the application under Rule 1(3).