Reviewed case brief
Laxmidas Morarji v Behrose Darab Madan
AIR 1966 SC 1265
## Summary
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Year
- 1966
- Subjects
- Civil Procedure Code and Law of Limitation
- Reviewed
- 2026-07-22
Rule established
A set-off, whether legal (under Order VIII Rule 6 CPC) or equitable, is a defence available to a defendant to extinguish or reduce the plaintiff's claim, decided within the framework of the same suit, and unlike a counterclaim, does not confer upon the defendant an independent status as a plaintiff seeking separate affirmative relief beyond the ambit of the original claim.
Facts
Issues
Held
Ratio decidendi
How to use it in an exam
Editorial source
AIR 1966 SC 1265; standard casebook authority on the nature and limits of set-off as distinct from counterclaim, cross-verify citation before exam use
Educational summary only. Read the reported judgment or an authorised law report before relying on the case professionally.