KSLU Solved Question Papers
Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 9
2024 Aug Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 9 Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act 2024 Aug Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.
Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
Passages from this volume may be quoted, in print, online or by an AI system, with credit: name munotes.in and link to this volume's page. The volume may not be reproduced as a whole. Full terms at munotes.in/content-license.
munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of Karnataka State Law University. It is not affiliated with Karnataka State Law University, and is not endorsed by it.
The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.
The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2024 Aug examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2024 Aug examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2024 Aug 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 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/ Problem is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicates marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
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.
Q1
Unit I
(a)"Every Civil Suit must be instituted before a lowest civil court competent to try that suit" - Discuss.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the source of the statement (section 15); "lowest grade" and "competent" (pecuniary limits, section 6); the objects of the rule; how valuation in the plaint fixes the court; section 15 is a rule of procedure, not of jurisdiction, so a higher court's decree is not void; objections to pecuniary jurisdiction (section 21(2), section 11 Suits Valuation Act, Kiran Singh); consent cannot give a court jurisdiction it lacks (Hakam Singh); what happens when the plaint is filed in the wrong court (Order VII Rules 10 and 11).
The statement and its source
The statement reproduces section 15 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908. It says: "Every suit shall be instituted in the Court of the lowest grade competent to try it." Section 15 is the first of the rules on the place of suing in sections 15 to 20. Section 15 chooses the grade of court. Sections 16 to 20 then choose the place.
"Lowest grade" and "competent"
Civil courts in a State are arranged in grades by statute. A typical order runs from the court of a junior civil judge to that of a senior civil judge, and then the District Court. Each has a pecuniary limit, meaning a maximum value of suit it may try.
A court is "competent" to try a suit if the suit falls within its pecuniary limit and its jurisdiction over the subject matter. Section 6 adds that nothing in the Code gives a court jurisdiction over a suit whose value exceeds its pecuniary limits. So section 15 directs the plaintiff to the lowest of the courts competent by value.
Example. Suppose the junior civil judge may try suits up to Rs 10 lakh, and the senior civil judge any value. A suit to recover Rs 5 lakh must be filed before the junior civil judge, though the senior civil judge could also try it.
Objects of the rule
- To keep higher courts free for larger and more difficult cases.
- To give the parties a ladder of appeals. A suit begun at the lowest level can go up on appeal and second appeal.
- To bring justice nearer. Lower courts sit in more places and are cheaper to approach.
- To spread the work of the courts evenly.
Valuation decides the court
The plaint must state "the value of the subject-matter of the suit for the purposes of jurisdiction and of court-fees" (Order VII Rule 1(i)). The court looks at that valuation to see whether the suit is within its limits. The plaintiff's valuation is normally accepted, unless it is plainly arbitrary. If the court finds the relief undervalued, it may fix a time to correct the value. If the plaintiff fails, it rejects the plaint (Order VII Rule 11(b)).
A rule of procedure, not of jurisdiction
Section 15 regulates procedure. It does not take jurisdiction away from a higher court. A senior civil judge who tries a small suit is not acting without jurisdiction. His decree is therefore not a nullity. Section 99 adds that no decree is reversed in appeal for a mere irregularity. The error must affect the merits or the jurisdiction of the court.
The position is different where a suit is filed in a court below the right grade. There the court lacks pecuniary jurisdiction, and section 6 bars it from trying the suit. Even then, the Code protects a finished decree. Under section 21(2), an objection to pecuniary jurisdiction is not allowed in appeal or revision unless two things are shown. It must have been taken in the trial court at the earliest opportunity, before issues were settled. There must also have been a consequent failure of justice.
In Kiran Singh v. Chaman Paswan, AIR 1954 SC 340, the plaintiffs valued their suit at Rs 2,950, which sent their appeal to the District Court. The proper value was later found to be Rs 9,980, which would have sent it to the High Court. The plaintiffs, having lost, then attacked the District Court's decree as void. The Supreme Court refused. Under section 11 of the Suits Valuation Act 1887, an error of valuation upsets a decree only if it prejudiced the decision on the merits. A mere change of forum is not prejudice.
Consent cannot make a court competent
Parties cannot by agreement give a court a jurisdiction that the law denies it. In Hakam Singh v. Gammon (India) Ltd., (1971) 1 SCC 286, a contract chose the Bombay courts for all disputes, and the contractor still applied at Varanasi. The Supreme Court held that parties may choose between courts that both have jurisdiction, but cannot confer it on a court that has none. So an agreement to file a large suit before a junior court, beyond its limit, would be void.
Filing in the wrong court
A suit may be filed in a court which lacks pecuniary jurisdiction. That court must then return the plaint for presentation to the proper court under Order VII Rule 10. The plaint is endorsed with the dates of presentation and return. Under Rule 10A, the court may fix a date for appearance in the proper court, so that the defendant need not be summoned again.
Conclusion. Section 15 requires every suit to be filed in the lowest court competent by value to try it, to spread the work and preserve appeals. It is a rule of procedure, so a higher court's decree in a small suit is not void. A defect of pecuniary jurisdiction must be raised early. It is fatal in appeal only if it caused a failure of justice, as section 21(2) and Kiran Singh show. Parties cannot by consent make an incompetent court competent, as Hakam Singh holds. A plaint filed in the wrong court is returned under Order VII Rule 10.
The rest of the answers
The first answer is free. The rest come with the KSLU B.A. LL.B. Semester 9 solved papers.
You have read the question paper and its first answer in full. Buy the solved papers once and you can read every answer of every solved paper in this semester.
Solved papers: ₹499 Already bought it? Sign in
The question paper itself stays free.
Found an error in this volume? Report it and we will check it against the paper.