Meaning & Essentials of Suit

The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, governs the conduct of civil proceedings in India. It is crucial to ascertain the court's jurisdiction under Section 9 and the location of the lawsuit under Section 18 of the CPC prior to filing a civil complaint. The institution of the lawsuit under Section 26 of the CPC is the first stage in the civil litigation process. The provisions of filing a lawsuit under Section 26 of the CPC are thoroughly examined in the current article.

What is Suit?

The definition of "suit" is broad. The lawsuits brought pursuant to CPC 1908 differ slightly from ordinary civil lawsuits. Under the CPC, lawsuits are started by presenting a plaint with a specific format, but other lawsuits, including those for divorce, are started by simply presenting a petition on behalf of either spouse.

What is Suit under Limitation Act, 1963?

The laws governing the expiration of claims and other processes are governed by the Limitation Act of 1963.

• Under Section 2(l) of the Limitation Act of 1963, an appeal or an application are not regarded as lawsuits.

• The Limitation Act of 1963's Section 5 addresses the possibility of extending the deadline under certain conditions. It says that if the appellant proves to the court that they were unable to file the appeal or application during the limitation period, any appeal or application may be granted even after the deadline has passed. Whether the party is a state or a private business, the court may forgive the delay in filing the appeal or application if it is satisfied.

• The Limitation Act of 1963's Section 5 does not apply to suits.

What is Suit under CPC, 1908?

According to the CPC, 1908, the word "suit" is not defined. It is generally accepted that it refers to a process that begins when a civil court is presented with a complaint. The relief sought is specifically stated in a plaint, which is a written statement of a cause of action. A suit, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is a legal action brought by one or more parties against another.

• The suits filed under the CPC, 1908, and the other suits filed under various legislative enactments typically appear to differ just slightly. A plaint is used to initiate a civil action in a suit filed under the Civil Procedure Code of 1908, as opposed to other suits, such as marital proceedings, which are initiated through different means.

  • In Ganesh Narain Saboo v. Ethiopian Airlines (2011), the Hon'ble Supreme Court said that the term "suit" is a general phrase that incorporates all measures to be done by a person to enforce a legal right that has been granted to them by law.

Essentials of Suit

There are four essentials of suit which are explained below-

Parties

The plaintiff who files the lawsuit and the defendant against whom the plaintiff makes the claim must be at least two opposing parties in order for the claim to be heard. On either side, there are no numerical limitations. The filing of a complaint initiates every lawsuit. Plaintiffs, their representatives, authorized agents, or attorneys acting on their behalf must file a complaint.

• Order 1, Rule 1: of the CPC, which describes the plaintiffs' joining the case. Any person may file a lawsuit as a plaintiff if they have a claim for relief based on a single act, a string of acts or transactions that are alleged to have occurred jointly, severally, or alternatively, or if there is a common issue of law or fact.

• Order 1, Rule 3: of the CPC, describes how the defendants were added to the lawsuits. All people may join as defendants in a suit when any claim to relief is alleged to exist against defendants arising out of the same conduct, transaction, or sequence of acts or transactions, or when any common question of law or fact would arise if separate suits were brought against the defendants.

Subject Matter

To grant the plaintiff the requested relief, there must be a subject matter, or a group of facts, that must be established. The plan of action is part of it. For the plaintiff to successfully file his complaint and receive the remedy requested in the complaint, the subject matter may be either moveable or immovable property, and the plaintiff must provide data regarding the same in the complaint.

• Examples: The subject matter of a lawsuit filed to reclaim real estate, whether or not it is being rented out, is the real estate itself.

• The subject matter of a lawsuit filed to recover damages for harm done to a single moveable item is that item itself.

Cause of Action

The list of grounds upon which a court case is brought is known as a cause of action. A lawsuit might be started based on a specific collection of facts or accusations. All information about rights and their infringement is included. A cause of action is required by Order II, Rule 2 of the CPC, in order to start a lawsuit, and the complaint must include the cause of action.

• The Hon'ble Supreme Court ruled in Rajasthan High Court Advocates Association v. Union of India & Ors. (2000) that the term “cause of action" had a defined meaning in the law. It speaks of the circumstances surrounding the violation or the root cause of the behavior. In a broader sense, it refers to the requirements for the suit to be kept alive, which comprise both the violation of the right and the right itself, as well as both of these. and condensed the phrase to all of the facts that the plaintiff would need to prove in order to support his claim in the court's ruling.

Relief

Legal redress for wrong is called relief. Every lawsuit must, to the greatest extent possible, be structured in accordance with Rule 1 of Order 2 to provide a basis for a final determination of the issues in dispute and to halt further litigation pertaining to them.

Conclusion

The path a lawsuit takes from the filing of the complaint through its establishment in court is influenced by a variety of circumstances. All of these conditions are laid forth in the CPC of 1908 in a structured manner. Such procedural procedures highlight the CPC's exclusivity, and as a result, delays are brought on when a civil suit is instituted and when a ruling is passed.

The CPC, 1908, contains a provision under Section 89 that allows for the settlement of some disputes outside of court by conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, including settlement through Lok Adalat, and mediation, indicating that the legislators were aware of this. Additionally, Order XXXVII has a provision for summary proceedings, which offer prompt and effective remedies.

FAQs

Q1. Who will present the suit and how he will present the suit?

Ans. Both an authorized pleader and an individual may present the complaint. It needs to be delivered twice. The general principles of pleading, which demand that we plead material facts rather than those with probative value [Order VI], must be followed in this case. A working day of two office hours is required for the presentation. The date when suits are instituted is when the complaint is brought before the office.

Q2. How a civil suit is filed?

Ans. The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, specifies the exact steps to take when bringing a civil lawsuit. The Registry has the authority to reject it nonetheless if the proper procedure is not followed. Here, the term "registry" refers to the office that every court maintains and that houses the records and forms for all court proceedings.