B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 9 Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act 2012 Dec Question Paper with Solutions

1. Parties: a plaintiff who claims and a defendant against whom he claims (Order I).
2. Cause of action: the facts the plaintiff must prove to win, shown in the plaint with the date they arose (Order VII Rule 1(e)).
3. Subject matter: the property, money or right in dispute.
4. Relief: the specific relief claimed (Order VII Rule 7).

How it ends. A suit ends in a decree, which "conclusively determines the rights of the parties" on the matters in controversy (section 2(2)).

Part B: suits of a civil nature

Section 9. "The Courts shall (subject to the provisions herein contained) have jurisdiction to try all suits of a civil nature excepting suits of which their cognizance is either expressly or impliedly barred." So a civil court can try a suit only if two conditions are met:

1. the suit is of a civil nature; and
2. its cognizance is not barred, expressly or impliedly.

Examples

Suits of a civil nature:

1. a suit for possession of land, or for its partition;
2. a suit for money due on a loan or for damages for breach of contract;
3. a suit for damages for defamation, nuisance or negligence;
4. a suit for restitution of conjugal rights, or about the custody of a child;
5. a suit about a right to an office, such as a temple priest's or a trustee's, even if it turns on religious rites (Explanation I);
6. a suit about the right of worship in a temple or a place of prayer;
7. a suit by a government servant claiming arrears of salary, or challenging his dismissal as void;
8. a suit about the right to vote, or to stand, in the election of a private society, where its rules give that right.

Suits not of a civil nature:

1. a suit only about caste dignity or social honour, with no legal right attached;

In Ugamsingh and Mishrimal v. Kesrimal, AIR 1971 SC 2540, the Adeshwarji temple at Paroli in Rajasthan was worshipped by both the Digambar and the Swetambar Jain sects. Digambars sued for a declaration that they could worship the idol according to their tenets without interference, and for an injunction. The Swetambars had tried to fix artificial eyes to the idol and to lock it. They argued that a civil court had no jurisdiction over a religious dispute. On 26 November 1970 the Supreme Court held that the dispute was "not one which is confined merely to rites and rituals but one which effects the rights of worship". It held that "a right to worship is a civil right, interference with which raises a dispute of a civil nature". The Digambars' decree was upheld.

In Most Rev. P.M.A. Metropolitan v. Moran Mar Marthoma, 1995 Supp (4) SCC 286, a long dispute in the Malankara Church came from a representative suit. On 20 June 1995 the Supreme Court held that section 9 gives civil courts jurisdiction over all civil disputes unless barred. A dispute does not fall outside it because it involves religious questions. A suit about a religious office is a suit of a civil nature.

So the line is this. A dispute about pure ritual, with no right attached, is not for the civil court. A dispute about a right to worship, a religious office, or temple property is.

Conclusion. A suit is a civil proceeding begun by a plaint, with parties, a cause of action, a subject matter and a claim for relief. Under section 9, civil courts try every suit of a civil nature, one whose main question is a civil right, unless a statute bars it. Every person has an inherent right to bring such a suit, as Ganga Bai holds. A suit about a right to property, an office or worship is of a civil nature even if it turns on religious rites. A suit regarding the right to worship is therefore a suit of a civil nature, as Ugamsingh holds. Pure ritual, caste dignity and political demands are not, and statutory bars are tested on the principles of Dhulabhai.