Essentials of a Suit and Cause of Action
Chapter Ten
Syllabus topic 1.3, "Essentials of a suit"; and 1.4, "Cause of action and jurisdiction and its kind"
Pages 57 to 60 of 365
In one line
A suit is a civil proceeding begun by presenting a plaint, and the cause of action is the bundle of facts the plaintiff must prove to win it.
Almost everything else in this subject hangs off that second idea. Where you can sue depends on where the cause of action arose. What you must include in one suit depends on what belongs to one cause of action. Whether a second suit is barred depends on whether it is on the same cause of action.
The four essentials of a suit
The Code nowhere prints a list headed "essentials of a suit", so this is the settled analysis rather than a quotation, and an answer is safest if it states the four and then anchors each to a provision.
One, opposing parties. There must be at least one plaintiff and one defendant. A person cannot sue himself, and a court will not decide a dispute nobody is contesting.
Two, a subject matter in dispute. There must be a real controversy, and it must be of a civil nature, which is section 9. See [Jurisdiction of Civil Courts].
Three, a cause of action. Dealt with below. It is the reason the plaintiff is entitled to come to court at all.
Four, relief claimed. The plaintiff must ask the court for something. A suit that asks for nothing gives the court nothing to do, and Order VII Rule 1 requires the plaint to state the relief which the plaintiff claims.
How a suit begins
Section 26 provides that every suit shall be instituted by the presentation of a plaint, or in such other manner as may be prescribed. Order IV Rule 1 carries the same rule into the rules.
That single sentence has consequences worth noticing. A suit begins on presentation, not on service, not on the defendant's appearance, and not when the court takes it up. That date is what matters for limitation, and it is what matters for section 10, where everything turns on which suit was instituted first. See [Res Sub Judice].
Cause of action
What it is
A cause of action is the bundle of essential facts which the plaintiff must prove, if traversed, in order to get the relief he asks for. It is not the section of law he relies on, and it is not the evidence by which he proves those facts. It is the facts themselves.
Two tests make it concrete.
The pleading test. Would the plaint disclose a case if you deleted this fact? If deleting it destroys the claim, it is part of the cause of action. If the claim survives without it, the fact is background.
Essentials of a Suit and Cause of Action
The proof test. Is this a fact the plaintiff must prove, if the defendant denies it, to succeed? Those facts, taken together, are the cause of action.
What it does for you, in four places
This is why the concept is worth real attention.
It decides where you can sue. Section 20(c) allows a suit where the cause of action arises wholly or in part. See [Place of Suing].
It decides what must go into one suit. Order II Rule 1 requires every suit to be framed so far as practicable to afford ground for a final decision on the subjects in dispute and to prevent further litigation about them. Order II Rule 2 then requires the suit to include the whole of the claim arising from that cause of action.
It decides what a second suit may contain. Whatever was omitted from the first is barred. See [Bar to Further Suit].
It decides when time starts. Limitation ordinarily runs from when the cause of action accrues. See [Bar of Limitation and Condonation of Delay].
Joinder of causes of action
Order II Rule 3 provides that a plaintiff may unite in the same suit several causes of action against the same defendant, or the same defendants jointly; and plaintiffs jointly interested in causes of action against the same defendant or defendants jointly may unite them in one suit.
Sub-rule (2) adds a practical consequence students forget: where causes of action are united, the jurisdiction of the Court as regards the suit depends on the aggregate value of the subject matters at the date of institution. Join two claims of Rs. 60,000 each and you may have taken the suit out of a court competent to try either of them alone.
So Rule 2 says you must join everything belonging to one cause of action, and Rule 3 says you may join several causes of action. The first is compulsory and its price is losing what you leave out; the second is permissive and its price is that the values add up.
A worked example
Ujjwal lends Vidya Rs. 5,00,000 in March under a written agreement, repayable in June with interest. She does not repay. Separately, in August, Vidya's car damages Ujjwal's compound wall.
What is the cause of action on the loan? The facts Ujjwal must prove: that he lent the money, that there was an agreement to repay by June with interest, and that she has not repaid. Those facts and no others. The agreement being in writing is evidence of the terms, not a separate fact in the bundle.
Where can he sue on it? Section 20: where Vidya resides or works, and where the cause of action arose wholly or in part, which will include where the loan was made and where repayment was due.
Essentials of a Suit and Cause of Action
Must he claim the interest in the same suit? Yes. Interest under the same agreement is part of the same claim, and the Explanation to Order II Rule 2 deems successive claims under the same obligation to be one cause of action. If he sues only for the principal, the interest is gone. See [Bar to Further Suit].
May he join the wall claim? The damage to the wall is a separate cause of action, arising from different facts entirely. Order II Rule 3 permits him to unite it in the same suit against the same defendant. He is not obliged to.
What if he does join it? By Rule 3(2), the court's jurisdiction is then judged on the aggregate value of both claims. If the loan claim alone was within the limit of a particular court and the two together are not, joining them sends the suit up to a higher court.
And if he sues only on the loan and later sues on the wall? Perfectly good. Order II Rule 2 bars only what belonged to the same cause of action, and these are two.
What it does not mean
A cause of action is not a section of law. It is the facts. Citing the wrong provision does not destroy a suit; failing to plead a necessary fact does.
It is not the evidence. The facts you must prove are the cause of action; the documents and witnesses that prove them are not.
A suit does not begin when the defendant is served. It is instituted on presentation of the plaint, under section 26 and Order IV Rule 1.
Joinder of causes of action is not compulsory. Order II Rule 3 permits it. What is compulsory is including the whole claim on one cause of action, under Rule 2.
Joining claims is not free. Rule 3(2) makes jurisdiction depend on the aggregate value.
Quick revision
Essentials of a suit: opposing parties; a subject matter of a civil nature; a cause of action; and relief claimed.
Section 26 and Order IV Rule 1: every suit is instituted by presenting a plaint. Institution is by presentation, which fixes the date for limitation and for section 10.
Cause of action: the bundle of essential facts the plaintiff must prove, if traversed, to obtain the relief claimed. Not the law, not the evidence.
It governs four things: where you may sue, section 20(c); what one suit must contain, Order II Rules 1 and 2; what a later suit may contain, Order II Rule 2; and when limitation begins.
Order II Rule 3: several causes of action may be united against the same defendant, and jurisdiction then depends on the aggregate value at the date of institution.
Essentials of a Suit and Cause of Action
Test yourself
1. What are the essentials of a suit? Opposing parties, a subject matter in dispute which is of a civil nature, a cause of action, and relief claimed by the plaintiff.
2. How is a suit instituted? By the presentation of a plaint, or in such other manner as may be prescribed, under section 26 of the Code and Order IV Rule 1.
3. Define cause of action in two sentences. A cause of action is the bundle of essential facts which the plaintiff must prove, if traversed, in order to obtain the relief he claims. It does not include the provisions of law relied on, nor the evidence by which those facts are proved.
4. Name two things that depend on the cause of action. Where the suit may be filed, since section 20(c) allows a suit where the cause of action arises wholly or in part; and what a later suit may contain, since Order II Rule 2 bars any part of the claim on that cause of action which was omitted or relinquished. Limitation and the framing of the suit under Order II Rule 1 also depend on it.
5. May a plaintiff join two unrelated claims against the same defendant in one suit? Yes. Order II Rule 3 permits a plaintiff to unite several causes of action against the same defendant in the same suit. But by Rule 3(2) the jurisdiction of the court as regards the suit then depends on the aggregate value of the subject matters at the date of institution.
6. What is the difference between Order II Rule 2 and Order II Rule 3? Rule 2 is compulsory: a suit must include the whole of the claim arising on one cause of action, and anything omitted is lost. Rule 3 is permissive: several distinct causes of action may be united in one suit, with the consequence that jurisdiction is judged on their aggregate value.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.