A civil case includes a disagreement between two or more people or institutions, generally over money. A civil suit starts when a legal person alleges that he has been hurt by the acts of another individual or company and files a “complaint” with the court seeking relief. Mostly the civil lawsuits follow the well-established rules of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Phases of a Civil Case

In civil litigation, there are six primary stages. The stages are as follows:

Pre Filing: In this stage, when a dispute emerges, the parties make demands and attempt to resolve the situation without taking legal action. But, if they are unable to compromise, the parties must prepare for the potential of legal action.

Initial Pleading: In the initial pleading stage, one party submits documents/papers such as a complaint to begin the court action

Discovery: During this stage, both parties exchange information as well as responses filed by them in court and acquire information about the weaknesses and strengths of the other side’s case.

Pre-Trial: In the pre-trial stage, both parties begin to prepare for the trial by gathering witnesses and evidence. Even at this phase, they may try to settle the lawsuit outside of court; if that fails, the parties may file motions with the court to resolve the case or limit the issues for trial.

Trial: During the trial stage, the judge or a jury (that might last for a few hours to a couple of months, based on the intricacy of the case), witnesses are interrogated, the proof is produced, and the case is finally decided, and a judgment is issued.

Post Trial: In post-trial, either one or both parties may file an appeal challenging the verdict passed.

Process for Filing a Civil Case in India

The Code of Civil Procedure lays forth a step-by-step procedure for filing a civil case. However, if the procedure is not followed, the “registry” has the authority to dismiss the case. Below is the process for filing a civil suit:

Filing of Suit/Plaint: Filing of a plaint is the initial step in starting a lawsuit. A plaint is a written allegation or complaint. The party who files it is called “plaintiff,” whereas the person being sued is known as the “Defendant.” A plaint contains the following information:

• Name of the Court.
• Names and addresses of the parties involved in the conflict.
• Subject (a short statement indicating sections as well as order under which court jurisdiction is invoked).
• Plaintiff’s main content or submissions.
• Plaintiff’s declaration that the contents of the plaint are truthful and correct.

Vakalatnama: It is a written document in which the parties to a lawsuit authorise an Advocate to represent them in court. But, if a party is directly representing its own case, then no Vakalatnama is required. A Vakalatnama may include the following general terms and conditions:

• The client will not hold the advocate liable for any decisions made on their behalf.
• The client is responsible for all costs and expenses incurred throughout the course of the proceedings.
• Unless all payments are paid, the advocate has the right to keep the documents.
• Until complete fees are paid, the client has the right to disengage the appointed attorney at any stage of the proceeding.
• The attorney has all authority to make decisions on their own in a court hearing, in the best interests of this client.

Filing of Plaint: Next step is to file the plaint with the Chief Ministerial Officer at the filing counter, along with the applicable court fee as well as process fee (for different documents type, an individual must pay a different amount of court fees).

How are proceedings conducted?

Hearing: If the court thinks the matter has merit on the first day of the hearing, it will send a notice to the opposing party, instructing him to present his arguments on a date set by the court. Once the plaintiff receives the notice, they must do the following:

• Pay the required amount of procedure fees in the court.
• Submit two copies of the plaint for every defendant in the court, out of which one of the copies must be sent by Courier/Speed Post/Regd. A.D. and the other one must be delivered by Ordinary Post.
• The filing must be done within seven days of the date of the notice/order.

Written Statement: The defendant must appear on the date specified in the notice once it is issued to them. But, the defendant must file his written statement before appearing on the day set, which is their defence to the plaintiff’s complaint. The written statement must be filed within 30 days after receiving the notice or within the timeframe set by the court. The maximum term for filing a Written Statement might be extended to 90 days after receiving consent from the court. The written statement should clearly deny the charges, which the defendant says are inaccurate or incorrect. Any charge that isn’t clearly denied is considered being true. Verification from the defendant should be included in the written statement, saying that the contents of the Written Statement are accurate and correct.

Replication by Plaintiff: Once the defendant’s written statement has been submitted, a plaintiff must file a replication. It is a written response to the plaintiff’s written statement. The plaintiff must clearly deny the Defendant’s written statement defences in replication. Anything that isn’t rejected is assumed to be true. The pleadings are said to be complete after the Replication is filed.

Filing of Other Documents: Following the completion of the pleadings and the filing of both parties’ responses, both parties are given the option to produce and file documents essential to their claims. The following is the method for filing various documents:

• The opposing party may accept documents filed by one side.
• Another scenario is when the opposing party refuses to accept the documents that have been filed. In that situation, it can be accepted by the witness given by the party whose documents are rejected.
• As to Order 13 Rule 49 of the Code of Civil Procedure, after the documents are admitted, they are taken on record, and all of the suit’s details are written on the document.
• Any document filed by the parties must be original, and a copy must be provided to the opposing party.
• Final arguments cannot be based on any document that has not been filed or presented.

Framing of Issues/List of Witness: Framing of Issues is the next step in a civil case. The court sets the issues on which the arguments and cross-examination of witnesses are based. Then, Issues are framed by considering the conflicts in the suit, and the parties are not permitted to go beyond the scope of the Issues. The Issues framed can be either fact or Law. During the time of passing the final order, the court will handle every matter separately and pass judgments on each issue.

List of Witness/Cross-Examination: All the witnesses that the parties wish to examine and produce should be present before the court within 15 days from the date on which the issues are framed or the time period which will be fixed by the court. Both parties to the suit must file a list of witnesses. The parties could call the witnesses themselves, or the court could do that by sending summons to the witnesses. If the court issues a warrant, the party who requested the witness’s presence must deposit money with the court to cover their costs. Both sides will examine the witnesses brought before the court on the hearing date, and when the cross-examination is completed, the court will set a date for the final hearing.

Final Hearing: On the final hearing day, the arguments should be exclusively limited to the issues framed. Once the hearing of the final arguments of both parties is done, the court will pass a final order, either on the last hearing day or on a later date set by the court. Therefore, before the final arguments are given, the parties to the complaint can change their filings with the court’s consent.