KSLU Solved Question Papers
Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 9
2023 Mar (70 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 9 Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act 2023 Mar (70 marks) Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 2 November 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2023 Mar (70 marks) examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2023 Mar (70 marks) examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2023 Mar (70 marks) examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 2½ hours · Total marks 70 · 12 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1What is Foreign Judgement ? When is Foreign Judgement not conclusive ?[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what a foreign judgment is (sections 2(5) and 2(6) of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908); the general rule that it is conclusive between the same parties on what it directly decides (section 13); the six cases in which it is not conclusive, clauses (a) to (f), with International Woollen Mills, Y. Narasimha Rao and Sankaran Govindan; the presumption of competence and how it is rebutted (section 14); how such a judgment is enforced, by a suit or by execution under section 44A (Alcon Electronics); a conclusion.
Meaning
A foreign Court is "a Court situate outside India and not established or continued by the authority of the Central Government" (section 2(5)). A foreign judgment is "the judgment of a foreign Court" (section 2(6)).
So a decision of a court in London, Dubai or New York is a foreign judgment. Indian courts do not decide the same dispute again if that judgment meets the tests in section 13.
The general rule: conclusive between the same parties
Section 13 opens with the rule. A foreign judgment "shall be conclusive as to any matter thereby directly adjudicated upon". This binds the same parties, or parties claiming under them, "litigating under the same title".
Two limits follow from the words.
- Only what was directly decided. A point the foreign court touched in passing is not covered.
- Only between the same parties or their privies. A stranger to the foreign suit is not bound.
The rule works like res judicata for decisions given abroad.
When it is not conclusive: section 13(a) to (f)
The rule has six exceptions. A foreign judgment is not conclusive in any of these cases.
- No competent jurisdiction, clause (a). The foreign court must have had jurisdiction in the international sense. Usually the defendant must have been resident there, or must have submitted to that court.
- Not on the merits, clause (b). The court must have considered the evidence and decided the truth of the claim.
- Wrong view of international law, or refusal to recognise Indian law where it applies, clause (c). This must appear "on the face of the proceedings".
- Proceedings opposed to natural justice, clause (d). For example, the defendant got no proper notice or no fair hearing.
- Obtained by fraud, clause (e).
- Sustains a claim founded on a breach of any law in force in India, clause (f). An Indian court will not lend its help to enforce an illegal claim.
The cases on the exceptions
International Woollen Mills v. Standard Wool (U.K.) Ltd, (2001) 5 SCC 265. An English seller of wool got an ex parte decree in a London court when the Indian buyer did not appear. The Supreme Court held that a judgment passed merely for default of appearance is not given "on the merits" under clause (b). The burden of showing that lies on the party who alleges it.
Y. Narasimha Rao v. Y. Venkata Lakshmi, (1991) 3 SCC 451. A husband obtained a divorce in Missouri on the ground of irretrievable breakdown. The wife had not submitted to that court. The Supreme Court refused to recognise the decree. It read section 13 clause by clause. In matrimonial cases, the jurisdiction and the ground must accord with the law under which the parties married.
Sankaran Govindan v. Lakshmi Bharathi, (1975) 3 SCC 351. An English declaration about domicile was attacked as obtained by fraud. The Supreme Court held that fraud under clause (e) means fraud on the court, a trick played on it. A judgment that is merely wrong is not obtained by fraud.
The presumption: section 14
When a certified copy of a foreign judgment is produced, the court "shall presume" that it was pronounced by a court of competent jurisdiction. That holds "unless the contrary appears on the record". The party resisting the judgment may displace the presumption "by proving want of jurisdiction".
So the burden of attack lies on the person who says the foreign court lacked jurisdiction.
How it is enforced
There are two routes.
- A suit on the judgment. The successful party files a fresh suit in India on the foreign judgment. The defendant may raise any ground in section 13.
- Execution under section 44A. If the decree is from a superior court of a "reciprocating territory" notified by the Central Government, a certified copy is filed in a District Court. It is then executed as if that court had passed it. The District Court must refuse execution if the decree falls within any clause of section 13 (section 44A(3)).
Section 44A covers only money decrees. Taxes, fines, penalties and arbitration awards are excluded (Explanation 2).
Alcon Electronics Pvt. Ltd. v. Celem S.A., (2017) 2 SCC 253. An English order for costs was put into execution at Nasik under section 44A. The Supreme Court held that the order was on the merits. It was a "decree" within Explanation 2, and so executable.
Conclusion. A foreign judgment is the judgment of a court outside India. Under section 13 it is conclusive between the same parties on what it directly decided. It loses that force in the six cases in clauses (a) to (f). International Woollen Mills shows that a default decree is not on the merits. Y. Narasimha Rao shows that a foreign divorce must accord with the parties' own law. Section 14 presumes jurisdiction, and section 44A lets a reciprocating country's money decree be executed directly.
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