Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC)
Order VII CPC: The Plaint, Return under Rule 10 and Rejection under Rule 11
The plaint is the document that starts a civil suit and defines everything that follows: the parties, the cause of action, the court, the value and the relief. Order VII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 prescribes what it must contain, what documents must accompany it, and what the court must do when it is presented in the wrong court or is bad in itself. The two provisions at the heart of the Order, Rule 10 on return and Rule 11 on rejection, generate a large body of case law, and these notes cover both in detail alongside the requirements of a valid plaint.
1. Essential Particulars of a Plaint: Rule 1
§ Order VII Rule 1, CPC 1908 The plaint shall contain the following particulars: (a) the name of the Court in which the suit is brought; (b) the name, description and place of residence of the plaintiff; (c) the name, description and place of residence of the defendant, so far as they can be ascertained; (d) where the plaintiff or the defendant is a minor or a person of unsound mind, a statement to that effect; (e) the facts constituting the cause of action and when it arose; (f) the facts showing that the Court has jurisdiction; (g) the relief which the plaintiff claims; (h) where the plaintiff has allowed a set-off or relinquished a portion of his claim, the amount so allowed or relinquished; and (i) a statement of the value of the subject matter of the suit for the purposes of jurisdiction and of court fees, so far as the case admits. |
The particulars grouped
Group | Particulars | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
The forum | Name of the court, clause (a) | Identifies the court and, with clause (f), shows why it is the right one |
The parties | Name, description and residence of plaintiff and defendant, clauses (b) and (c); minority or unsoundness of mind, clause (d) | Fixes identity for service, execution and res judicata; disability attracts Orders XXXII and XXXII-A |
The claim | Facts constituting the cause of action and when it arose, clause (e) | Defines the suit, fixes limitation, and is the test under Rule 11(a) |
The jurisdiction | Facts showing the court has jurisdiction, clause (f) | Subject matter under Section 9, place under Sections 15 to 20, value under Section 6 |
The money | Value for jurisdiction and court fees, clause (i); set-off allowed or claim relinquished, clause (h) | Determines the competent court and the fee, and records any relinquishment under Order II Rule 2 |
The relief | The relief claimed, clause (g), stated specifically under Rule 7 | The court ordinarily grants no relief not claimed |
Two further rules complete the framing. Rule 2 requires a plaint for the recovery of money to state the precise amount claimed, or, where the claim is for mesne profits or for an amount that cannot be determined without accounts, an approximate value. Rule 3 requires a plaint concerning immovable property to contain a description sufficient to identify the property, including boundaries or numbers in a record of settlement or survey where such exist. Rule 5 requires a plaintiff suing in a representative character to show that he has an actual existing interest in the subject matter and has taken the steps necessary to enable him to institute the suit.
2. Relief and Alternative Relief: Rules 7 and 8
§ Order VII Rule 7, CPC 1908 Every plaint shall state specifically the relief which the plaintiff claims either simply or in the alternative, and it shall not be necessary to ask for general or other relief which may always be given as the Court may think just to the same extent as if it had been asked for. And the same rule shall apply to any relief claimed by the defendant in his written statement. |
Three propositions follow. The relief must be stated specifically: a court ordinarily grants no relief that has not been claimed, and Order II Rule 2(3) bars a later suit for a relief omitted without leave. Alternative relief may be claimed, and is frequently necessary, as where specific performance is claimed with damages in the alternative. And the closing words preserve the court's power to grant general relief consistent with the case pleaded, even without a specific prayer, so long as it is not inconsistent with the relief sought and the defendant has had an opportunity to meet it. Rule 8 adds that where the plaintiff seeks relief in respect of several distinct claims or causes of action founded on separate and distinct grounds, they must be stated separately and distinctly.
3. Documents to Accompany the Plaint: Rules 14 to 18
i. Rule 14(1). Where the plaintiff sues upon a document, or relies on a document in his possession or power as evidence in support of his claim, he must enter it in a list and produce it in court with the plaint, together with a copy.
ii. Rule 14(2). Where he relies on a document not in his possession or power, he must state in whose possession or power it is, and file a list of such documents.
iii. Rule 14(3). A document not produced when the plaint is presented shall not be received in evidence at the hearing without the leave of the court, a discipline reinforced in commercial suits by the recast Order XI, where the requirement is stricter and leave is harder to obtain.
iv. Rules 15 to 17. Provide for statements in lieu of documents not in the plaintiff's possession, and for the production of documents that are entries in books or records.
v. Rule 9. On admission of the plaint, the plaintiff must present as many copies as there are defendants, and pay the requisite fee for service, within the prescribed period; a failure attracts Rule 11(f).
4. Return of the Plaint: Rules 10 and 10A
§ Order VII Rule 10, CPC 1908 (1) Subject to the provisions of rule 10A, the plaint shall at any stage of the suit be returned to be presented to the Court in which the suit should have been instituted. Explanation. For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that a Court of appeal or revision may direct, after setting aside the decree appealed against or revised, the return of the plaint under this sub-rule. (2) On returning a plaint, the Judge shall endorse thereon the date of its presentation and return, the name of the party presenting it, and a brief statement of the reasons for returning it. |
Return is the remedy for want of jurisdiction, of whatever kind: subject matter, place or pecuniary value. Four consequences follow. The order may be made at any stage of the suit, and, by the Explanation, even by an appellate or revisional court after setting aside the decree. The plaint returns to the plaintiff for presentation to the proper court, and the suit in that court is instituted on the date of re-presentation, not on the original date, which is why Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 exists to exclude the time spent bona fide prosecuting the matter in a court without jurisdiction. The endorsement required by sub-rule (2) is what proves those dates. And an order of return is an appealable order under Order XLIII Rule 1(a).
§ Order VII Rule 10A: the procedure on return Rule 10A, inserted in 1976, meets a practical difficulty: where the plaint is returned after the defendant has appeared, the plaintiff may lose him, and time, in the transition. The court, before returning the plaint, must intimate its decision to the plaintiff. On the plaintiff's application, the court then fixes a date for appearance in the court where the plaint is to be presented, and gives notice of that date to the defendant, so that the defendant is bound to appear there without fresh summons. The object is continuity: the litigation moves courts without starting over on service and appearance. |
5. Rejection of the Plaint: Rule 11
§ Order VII Rule 11, CPC 1908 The plaint shall be rejected in the following cases: (a) where it does not disclose a cause of action; (b) where the relief claimed is undervalued, and the plaintiff, on being required by the Court to correct the valuation within a time to be fixed by the Court, fails to do so; (c) where the relief claimed is properly valued, but the plaint is written upon paper insufficiently stamped, and the plaintiff, on being required by the Court to supply the requisite stamp-paper within a time to be fixed by the Court, fails to do so; (d) where the suit appears from the statement in the plaint to be barred by any law; (e) where it is not filed in duplicate; (f) where the plaintiff fails to comply with the provisions of rule 9. |
Return, rejection and dismissal: three different doors with three different consequences
(a) No cause of action
The plaint must disclose a cause of action, that is, the bundle of material facts which, if proved, would entitle the plaintiff to the relief claimed. The test is applied on the plaint alone, taking its averments as true, and asking whether, so taken, they make out a case. Two refinements are settled. The reading must be meaningful and not formal: T. Arivandandam v. T.V. Satyapal, (1977) 4 SCC 467 requires the court to see through clever drafting that creates an illusory cause of action, and to nip such litigation in the bud. And a weak case is not the same as no case: the plaint is not rejected because the claim looks unlikely to succeed, only because it discloses nothing that the law recognises as a right of action.
(b) and (c) Undervaluation and insufficient stamp
These two grounds share a structure that examiners test: the court may not reject at once. It must first require the plaintiff to correct the valuation, or to supply the requisite stamp paper, within a time fixed by the court, and only on his failure within that time does rejection follow. An order rejecting a plaint on either ground without first giving the opportunity is bad.
(d) Suit barred by law
The words appears from the statement in the plaint are the key. The bar must be apparent on the plaintiff's own pleading, not established by the defence. The grounds that arise in practice include limitation, where the plaint itself shows the suit to be out of time; a statutory bar such as Section 80 notice not given, or the ouster of the civil court's jurisdiction; and res judicata or the bar under Order II Rule 2, where the plaint discloses the earlier proceeding. On res judicata, note the qualification: it ordinarily depends on comparing the pleadings and issues in the two suits, so it can found a rejection under Rule 11(d) only where the plaint itself, with the documents filed with it, establishes it without further inquiry.
6. How Rule 11 is Applied: Stage, Material and Scope
§ Five settled propositions on Rule 11 Each is a standard examination point: • Stage. The power may be exercised at any stage of the suit, before or after the written statement is filed, and the court may act suo motu. The duty is to apply the rule as soon as the ground appears. • Material considered. Only the plaint and the documents filed with it. The court examines the averments as they stand, taking them to be true. • The written statement is irrelevant. The defence, however strong, cannot be looked at on a Rule 11 application; whether the plaintiff will succeed against it is a matter for the trial, not for the threshold. • No partial rejection. A plaint is rejected as a whole or not at all. The court cannot reject part of it and allow the rest to proceed, and where some reliefs are maintainable the plaint survives. • Effect. By Section 2(2) the rejection of a plaint is a deemed decree, and is therefore appealable as a decree, unlike a return, which is an appealable order under Order XLIII Rule 1(a). |
📖 T. Arivandandam v. T.V. Satyapal, (1977) 4 SCC 467 A litigant had launched a chain of vexatious proceedings, and the plaint in question was drawn so as to appear to disclose a cause of action while in substance disclosing none. Krishna Iyer J held that if on a meaningful, not formal, reading of the plaint it is manifestly vexatious and meritless in the sense of not disclosing a clear right to sue, the trial court should exercise its power under Order VII Rule 11 and nip the litigation in the bud at the first hearing by examining the party under Order X. Clever drafting creating an illusory cause of action must be seen through, and the court's duty at the threshold is active. Rule: the plaint is read meaningfully, not formally, and Rule 11 is a duty where the ground plainly exists, not a discretion to be avoided. |
7. Fresh Plaint under Rule 13
§ Order VII Rule 13, CPC 1908 The rejection of the plaint on any of the grounds hereinbefore mentioned shall not of its own force preclude the plaintiff from presenting a fresh plaint in respect of the same cause of action. |
Rule 13 is the counterweight to the deemed-decree character of a rejection. A rejection decides no right; it holds only that this plaint is bad. The plaintiff may therefore file a fresh plaint on the same cause of action, curing the defect, and the rejection does not operate as res judicata. Two qualifications follow from the words of its own force. The fresh plaint is a new suit, instituted on its own date, so limitation runs to that date and a claim that has since become time-barred cannot be revived. And where the ground of rejection was one that a fresh plaint cannot cure, such as a statutory bar disclosed by the facts themselves, the second plaint will meet the same fate.
8. Return, Rejection and Dismissal Distinguished
Basis | Return, Rule 10 | Rejection, Rule 11 | Dismissal |
|---|---|---|---|
Ground | The court lacks jurisdiction | The plaint is defective: no cause of action, undervaluation, insufficient stamp, barred by law, not in duplicate, or Rule 9 not complied with | The suit fails on the merits, or is dismissed for default under Order IX |
What the court decides | Nothing about the claim; only that this is the wrong court | That this plaint cannot be entertained | That the plaintiff is not entitled to the relief, or has not prosecuted the suit |
Nature of the order | An appealable order: Order XLIII Rule 1(a) | A deemed decree under Section 2(2), appealable as a decree | A decree, appealable under Section 96 |
Fresh proceedings | The same plaint is presented to the proper court; Section 14 of the Limitation Act excludes time spent bona fide | A fresh plaint on the same cause of action is permitted by Rule 13, but it is a new suit for limitation | A dismissal on the merits bars a fresh suit by res judicata; a dismissal for default may be set aside under Order IX |
9. Landmark Judgments on Order VII
- T. Arivandandam v. T.V. Satyapal, (1977) 4 SCC 467. The plaint is read meaningfully, not formally; a vexatious plaint disclosing no clear right to sue must be rejected at the threshold.
- Saleem Bhai v. State of Maharashtra, (2003) 1 SCC 557. An application under Order VII Rule 11 is decided on the averments in the plaint alone; the written statement is irrelevant, and the power may be exercised at any stage, including before the written statement is filed.
- Popat and Kotecha Property v. State Bank of India Staff Association, (2005) 7 SCC 510. The distinction between disclosing no cause of action and disclosing a weak one; the plaint must be read as a whole, and the clever drafting principle applied.
- Sopan Sukhdeo Sable v. Assistant Charity Commissioner, (2004) 3 SCC 137. The plaint is to be read as a whole to determine whether it discloses a cause of action; Rule 11 is not to be used to decide disputed questions of fact.
- Order VII Rules 10, 10A, 11 and 13 with Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963. The complete scheme for defective plaints and defective forums.
10. Frequently Asked Questions on Order VII CPC
What are the essential particulars of a plaint?
Under Order VII Rule 1: the name of the court; the name, description and residence of the plaintiff and of the defendant; a statement where either is a minor or of unsound mind; the facts constituting the cause of action and when it arose; the facts showing jurisdiction; the relief claimed; any set-off allowed or claim relinquished; and the value of the subject matter for jurisdiction and court fees.
When is a plaint returned under Order VII Rule 10?
Where the court in which it was filed has no jurisdiction, whether of subject matter, place or value. The plaint is returned at any stage for presentation to the proper court, the judge endorsing the dates of presentation and return, the party presenting it and the reasons.
What are the grounds for rejection of a plaint under Order VII Rule 11?
Six: no cause of action is disclosed; the relief is undervalued and the valuation is not corrected within the time fixed; the plaint is insufficiently stamped and the stamp is not supplied within the time fixed; the suit appears from the statement in the plaint to be barred by any law; it is not filed in duplicate; and the plaintiff fails to comply with Rule 9.
Can the written statement be considered on an application under Order VII Rule 11?
No. The application is decided on the averments in the plaint and the documents filed with it, taking those averments as true. Saleem Bhai v. State of Maharashtra holds that the defence is irrelevant at this stage and that the power may be exercised even before the written statement is filed.
Can a plaint be rejected in part?
No. A plaint is rejected as a whole or not at all. Where some of the reliefs claimed are maintainable, the plaint survives and the objection is dealt with at the trial.
Is rejection of a plaint appealable?
Yes. By Section 2(2) the rejection of a plaint is a deemed decree, and is therefore appealable as a decree under Section 96. A return of the plaint, by contrast, is an appealable order under Order XLIII Rule 1(a).
Can a fresh suit be filed after a plaint is rejected?
Yes. Order VII Rule 13 provides that rejection does not of its own force preclude the plaintiff from presenting a fresh plaint on the same cause of action. But the fresh plaint is a new suit instituted on its own date, so limitation is computed to that date.
Can a suit be rejected under Rule 11(d) on the ground of limitation?
Yes, where the plaint itself shows the suit to be barred by limitation, since limitation is a law within the meaning of clause (d). The bar must appear from the statement in the plaint and not require evidence to establish it.
11. Related Topics in This CPC Series
- Order VIII: Written Statement, Set-Off and Counterclaim
- Pleadings under Order VI: Rules, Verification and Amendment
- Order IV: Institution of Suits and the Register of Civil Suits
- Order II: Frame of Suit and the Bar under Order II Rule 2