Plaint: An Essential Tool for Instituting a Suit
A plaint is a formal court document wherein the plaintiff holds the defendant liable for damages caused. While there is no fixed format for drafting a plaint, Order VII, Rule 1 of the CPC outlines the necessary information that must be included.
A plaint must contain the following details:
i. The name of the court where the case is filed;
ii. The plaintiff's name, description, and address;
iii. The defendant's name, description, and address, if available;
iv. A statement indicating if either the plaintiff or the defendant is a minor or mentally incapacitated;
v. The events that led to and originated the action;
vi. Information establishing the court's jurisdiction;
vii. The relief sought by the plaintiff;
viii. The amount allowed or waived if the plaintiff accepts a set-off or relinquishes part of the claim; and
ix. A statement of the subject matter's value for jurisdiction and court fee purposes, as applicable.
Case Law:
In Kavita Tushir v. Pushpraj Dalal (2022), the Delhi High Court ruled that a plaint cannot be dismissed in part; it must be either accepted or rejected in its entirety. This means that a plaint should be evaluated as a whole, and if found inadequate or problematic, it should be dismissed entirely rather than partially.
Grounds for Dismissal of a Plaint.
Order VII, Rule 11 provides the following justifications for dismissing a plaint:
i. When there is no specific cause of action.
ii. If the relief sought is undervalued and the plaintiff fails to correct the valuation within the time frame specified by the court.
iii. When the plaintiff does not provide the required stamp paper within the period stipulated by the court, despite the relief being duly valued and the plaint being inadequately stamped.
iv. If the plaint shows that the civil litigation is barred by law.
v. When the plaint has been filed more than once.
vi. If the plaintiff does not comply with the directions given in Rule 9.
