CPC ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC: - ELABORATION OF CAVEAT UNDER CPC:

Submitted By

MOHAMMAD ZIYA ANSARI

BALLB (HONS)
SEMESTER-VII
ENROLLMENT NO- GI- 6492
FACULTY NO- 17BALLB- 72
2nd GCT Assignment

Submitted To

Dr. Hashmat Ali Khan Sir

Professor, Faculty of Law

Aligarh Muslim University

ALIGARH-202002 (INDIA)
 SYNOPSIS

1- INTRODUCTION OF CAVEAT.

2- MEANING OF CAVEAT.

3- PROVISION OF CAVEAT IN CPC.

4- WHEN TO LODGE CAVEAT?

5- WHO MAY LODGE CAVEAT?

6- WHERE CAN BE A CAVEAT LODGE?

7- HOW TO FILE CAVEAT.

8- WHAT DOES A CAVEAT CONTAIN

9- NOTICE.

10- LIMITATION OF TIME TO FILE CAVEAT.

11-CONCLUSION.

12- BIBLIOGRAPHY.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS A DEEP SENSE OF

THANKS & GRATITUDE TO MY PROJECT GUDIE Dr

HASHMAT ALI KHAN SIR FOR GUIDING ME IMMENSELY

THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT.

I ALSO THANKS TO MY SENIORS FOR THEIR MOTIVATION &

SUPPORT. I MUST THANKS TO MY CLASSMATES FOR THEIR
TIMELY HELP & SUPPORT FOR COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT.

LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST, I WOULD LIKE TO THANKS TO ALL

THOSE WHO HELPED ME DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY TOWARDS
THE COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT.

THANKING YOU

MOHAMMAD ZIYA ANSARI

BALLB-4th Year GI-6492

17BALLB-72
1. INTRODUCTION OF CAVEAT: -

To know when to lodge a caveat or what to do when a caveat against you is lodged, it is
important to understand caveat and its implications. In simple words, a caveat is a right given to
a person in civil proceedings to avoid ex-parte orders or judgments. For example, X is the owner
of the land and he wants to build a house on the same land, for which he even got permission
from the municipality. However, Mr. Y, a neighbor of X, is not happy with his decision and
claims that a part of the land where the construction is going to be done belongs to him. Now Mr.
X being a wise man anticipates that Y may file an application. Thus he files a caveat against Y in
a competent suit, praying the court to give him a notice when any such application is made by Y.
Lodging of such caveat made X entitled to be informed by the court as well as Mr. Y about any
application that is made or is about to be made and any order passed by the court without giving
such a notice would be void.

Section 148-A of the civil procedure code speak about Caveat. Caveat means Beware. It is a
warning or caution given by a party to the court not to take any action or grant any relief to the
applicant without notice being given to the party lodging the caveat. After lodging a caveat, it
remains in force for 90 days. It shall not remain in force after the expiry of 90 days from the date
on which it was lodged. Caveat is very common in testamentary proceedings

2- MEANING OF CAVEAT

The caveat in Latin means “let a person be aware” and in law, it may be understood as a notice
given asking not to act in a certain manner without informing the person who gave such a notice.
Under the Civil Procedure Court, the provision of caveat is dealt with in Section 148A. Even
Though CPC does not define caveat in the case of Nirmal Chand v. Girindra Narayan, the court
defined caveat as a warning given by an individual to the court that no order or judgment shall be
passed without giving notice or without hearing the caveator. The person who files a caveat is
called the Caveator and the person who has instituted a suit or is likely to do so is called
caveatee. The main object of caveat is to ensure that the court does not pass ex parte orders and
that the interests of the caveator are protected. Caveat also reduces the burden of court and brings
an end to the litigation as it reduces the multiplicity of proceedings. As the purpose of the caveat
was to save the cost and convenience of the court, in Kattil Vayalil Parkkum Koiloth v. Mannil
Paadikayil Kadeesa Umma, the court held that no caveat can be lodged by a total stranger to the
suit. The term "caveat" has not been defined in the Civil Procedure Code. It has been derived
from Latin which means 'beware'. Dictionary meaning of Caveat is any entry made in the book
of the offices of a registry or Court to prevent A certain step being taken without prior notice to
the person entering the caveat.

3- ) PROVISIONS OF CAVEAT (SECTION 148-A)

Right to lodge a caveat - Section 148A of the code of Civil Procedure.

(1) Where an application is expected to be made or has been made, in a suit or proceeding
instituted, or about to be instituted, in a Court, any person claiming a right to appear before the
Court on the hearing of such application may lodge a caveat in respect thereof.

(2) Where a caveat has been lodged under sub-section (1), the person by whom the caveat has
been lodged (hereinafter referred to as the caveator) shall serve a notice of the caveat by
registered post, acknowledgement due, on the person by whom the application has been, or is
expected to be, made, under sub-section (1).

(3) Where, after a caveat has been lodged under sub-section (1), any application is filed in any
suit or proceeding, the Court, shall serve a notice of the application on the caveator.

(4) Where a notice of any caveat has been served on the applicant, he shall forthwith furnish the
caveator at the caveator‘s expense, with a copy of the application made by him and also with
copies of any paper or document which has been, or may be, filed by him in support of the
application.
(5) Where a caveat has been lodged under sub-section (1), such caveat shall not remain in force
after the expiry of ninety days from the date on which it was lodged unless the application
referred to in sub-section (1) has been made before the expiry of the said period.

4- WHEN TO LODGE A CAVEAT?

According to Section 148A, when people apprehend that some case against them is filed or is
about to be filed in any court of law in any manner, they have a right to lodge a caveat. The
Caveat may be lodged in the form of a petition under the following circumstances:

During an ongoing suit or litigation and in that the application is already been made or is
expected to be made;

The suit is about to be instituted and, in that suit, an application is expected to be made.

Thus, firstly it is always about an application in a suit of the proceeding and secondly that suit or
proceeding can be in the present which is already instituted or it can be in the future where a suit
is not instituted yet but the same is expected. In all such situations the right to lodge a caveat
arises.

5-WHO MAY LODGE A CAVEAT?

Section 148A further provides that a caveat may be filed by any person, whether a party to the
suit or not, as long as the person filing the caveat has the right to appear before the court in
regard to the suit in question. Thus, caveat can be filed by a third party as well, if they in any
manner are connected to the suit in question. However, as it is already discussed that a caveat
cannot be lodged by a person who is a total stranger to the case and the same principle was laid
down in Kattil Vayalil Parkkum Koiloth v. Mannil Paadikayil Kadeesa Umma. To conclude, this
clause is substantive in nature and caveat may be filed by any person claiming a right to appear
before the Court.
6-WHERE CAN A CAVEAT BE LODGED?

As and when the caveator anticipates some legal proceedings to be filed against him in the near
future, he can file a petition for a caveat in any Civil Court of original jurisdiction, Appellate
Court, High Court as well as Supreme Court. Civil Courts include Courts of Small Causes,
Tribunals, Forums, and Commissions. However, in Deepak Khosla v. Union of India & Ors, the
court held that Section 148A of the code applies to civil proceedings only and caveat cannot be
made against petitions made under the Criminal Procedure Code or petition made under Article
226 of the Constitution of India.

7-HOW TO FILE A CAVEAT?

A caveat under Section 148A shall be signed by the caveator or his advocate. Where the caveator
is represented by an advocate, it should be accompanied by his Vakalatnama. The caveat
presented shall be registered in a caveat register maintained by the courts in the form of a
petition or any other form that may be prescribed. The register of caveat contains the date of
caveat, name, and address of caveator, name of the plaintiff, the name of the defendant and date
and a number of proceeding filed as anticipated by caveator. A caveat is always filed with a
copy, the postal proof and an application explaining to the court that a copy of the caveat has
been sent to all the parties and thus the court need not do the same. Even though the court fees of
filing a caveat varies for different courts, it is generally a nominal amount of less than INR 100.
The rules and format of the caveat are similar for most of the courts.

While filing a petition of caveat in Delhi High Court, follow the below-mentioned steps:

1- Support the caveat petition with an affidavit. Both petition and the affidavit should be
signed by the caveator;
2- Apart from this, a vakalatnama, impugned order (if any), and proof of service of notice of
caveat is also to be submitted to the Court.
8- WHAT DOES A CAVEAT CONTAIN?

A caveat or a notice given to the court that certain actions may not be taken without
informing the caveator should contain the following information:

Name of the caveator;

Address of the caveator where the notice would be sent;

The name of the court where such caveat is filed;

The number of the suit and the number of the appeal if applicable;

Brief details about suit or appeal likely to be filed;

Name of the probable plaintiffs or appellants and the respondents.

9-NOTICE: -

If subsequent to the filing of a caveat, any application is made in any suit or legal proceeding, the
court is required to give notice about such an application to the caveator. When a notice has been
served on the applicant, the applicant at the expense of the caveator is required to provide the
caveator with a copy of the application made by him along with any document that may have
been submitted with the application. If the court or applicant ignores the caveat and does not
inform the caveator, the decree or judgment passed becomes null and void.

The Reserve Bank of India Employees association & anr. V. The Reserve Bank of India &
Ors, a caveat petition was filed by the appellants apprehending an injunction order by the
respondent. For the caveat filed, the plaintiffs were served with a notice and all other relevant
papers or documents. They were also informed that the application will be moved on 28-10-
1980. However, the application was not heard on the said date, rather heard later on 30-10-1980.
The petitioners argued that as the court failed to provide the plaintiff with the notice of the order,
the judgment would be void and null, in accordance with clause (3) of Section 148A. The court
disagreed with the appellants and held that caveat gives the right to be informed about hearing of
the case and not takes away the right of a court to deliver a judgment or order on the merits of
the case. Mere lodging of caveat does not deprive the court of its power to deliver orders or
judgments.

However, the precedent set in the above case was overruled in C.G.C Slddalingappa v. G.C
Veeranna, wherein the applicant on filing a caveat was served with a notice. However, the case
was decided on a later date without giving notice to the appellant about the same. The court held
that the provision regarding notice under Section 148A (3) is mandatory and non-compliance of
the same defeats the very object of 148A, thus the order passed is void and null.

10- LIMITATION OF TIME: -

As provided by the section in clause 5, the caveat stays in force for a period of 90 days. If within
these 90 days an application is filed, then the court, as well as the applicant, has to give notice to
the caveator. However, if no caveat is filed within these 90 days, then no one has the duty to
inform the caveator, i.e. if the application is filed after the expiration of such period the caveat
stands null and void. If the caveator still wants to be informed then a fresh caveat needs to be
lodged for the next 90 days.

11- CONCLUSION: -

Section 148A, give any person who has a fear or nervousness that some or the other case against
him or her are going to be filled in a court of law in any manner, the power to lodge a caveat in
the court. A caveat may be lodged in any civil suit including tribunals and forums in the form of
a petition. If an application, that the caveator had anticipated is made within 90 days of filing the
caveat, then a notice is to be served by the applicant as well as the court to the caveator,
informing him about the filing of such an application. Any judgment or order passed without
giving such notice or without giving a reasonable opportunity to the caveator to be heard, would
be considered void and null.
12-BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1- Mariya Paliwal, https://blog.ipleaders.in/caveat-under-civil-procedure-code/

2- https://www.srdlawnotes.com/2018/10/caveat-section-148-of-code-of-civil.html

3- https://www.srdlawnotes.com/2018/10/caveat-section-148-of-code-of-civil.html