Withdrawal of suit (also known as abandonment of suit) means a retraction / secession of a previously held position by the party/parties in a legal proceeding. The suit may be withdrawn either in the trial or in the appellate stage. The provision of withdrawal and abandonment is founded on the principle that the law confers upon a person no right or benefit which he does not desire invito beneficium non datur. The second suit after withdrawal of the first one, without seeking permission to file a fresh suit, is barred, not because of the principle of res judicata, but because, whoever, abandons or disclaims a right, will lose it.

1. (1) At any time after the institution of a suit the plaintiff may, as against all or any of the defendants, withdraw his suit or abandon part of his claim.

(2) Where the Court is satisfied—

(a) that a suit must fail by reason of some formal defect, or

(b) that there are other sufficient grounds for allowing the plaintiff to institute a fresh suit for the subject-matter of a suit or part of a claim,

it may, on such terms as it thinks fit, grant the plaintiff permission to withdraw from such suit or abandon such part of a claim with liberty to institute a fresh suit in respect of the subject-matter of such suit or such part of a claim. [Order 23 rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908]

It provides a discretion to the Court to al­low or reject an application for withdrawal of a suit with permission to sue afresh. But this discretion must be exercised judicially in ac­cordance with established judicial norms— Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (V of 1908), Order XXIII Rule 1(2). [Md. Imran Hossain Momin vs. Md. Amir Hossain and others, 16 BLD (HCD) 624]