MODULE 3

HOW TO STRUCTURE PLAINT DOCUMENT:

Order 6 Rule 1 of the CPC defines pleadings as “a plaint or a written statement”1. This is one of
the starting step to initiate a civil suit in a court. After employing a counsel the plaintiff files a
document in the court containing the facts and circumstances of the case. This particular document
is called plaint.

Mainly what plaint is, plaint is a pleading under the CPC by the virtue of being a pleading there
are certain general rules that apply to pleadings as well as apply to plaint also. As we proceed
further there are certain exceptions and additions that are applied only to plaint and not to a written
statement.

There are some general Rules of Plaint:-

Order 6 Rule 2(1) states that “every pleading shall contain, and contain only, a statement in a
concise form of the material facts on which the party pleading relies for his claim or defense, as
the case may be, but not the evidence by which they are to be proved”2.

As it is already discussed this rule also applied to plaint as this rule is one of the pleadings as
defined under Order 6 Rule 1 of the CPC. This provision indicates four basic or fundamental rules
of documenting a plaint in CPC.

General rules of plaint:

1. Plaint is to state the facts of the case and not the legal provisions applicable in the case.
2. A plaint must contain only material facts.
3. Plaints must have relevant facts on which either party relies but it should not state the
evidence by which the fact is proposed to be proved for its validity.

1 Order 6 Rule 1, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

2
Order 6, Rule 2(1), Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
 4. A Plaint must contain a brief fact which somehow explains the whole case in short.

In case of Kedar Lal v. Hari Lal3, the apex court held that the parties to a civil suit are obliged only
to state the facts and situations that happened and on which they rely in the pleadings and to apply
the law is the duty of the judiciary. It means that the parties should state what their claims are and
why they should be granted to them.

We can take an example where Mr. T complained about Mr. P hitting him, Mr. T should explain
only what caused the fight, what was Mr. T’s role in the fight, why did Mr. P hit him and should
not explain what offence has been committed by Mr. T by hitting Mr. P and which provision should
apply and what procedure should be followed.

The rule can be explained in the case of Union of India v. Sita Ram Jaiswal4 wherein the apex
court held that if there is a point of law which is in dispute or which has become part of the dispute,
the point of law must be explained in the pleadings with necessary reference to relevant and vital
facts of the case.

Further in case of Udhav Singh v. Madhav Scindia5 the court averred that ‘material facts’ all those
primary facts that are relied on by the parties either to substantiate their claims or establish their
cause of action or used for their effective defense or counterclaim against the claiming party.

As per the rule, evidence must be omitted from the pleadings or it can be said that the party is not
obliged to mention the document of the evidence produced before the court to be used against the
other party. It maintains fairness of a trial as well as the safety of the evidences produced.

According to jurisprudence there are two types of facts:-

1. facta probanda and

2. facta probantia.

The first one facta probanda can be defined as the facts which are essential for both the parties to
prove the validity of their cases.

3
AIR 1952
4
1977 AIR 329, 1977 SCR (1) 950
5
1976 AIR 744, 1976 SCR (2) 246
Facts are elaborated by Order 6 Rule 2 mentioned in the pleading. Facta probantia is just different
and is contradictory in nature that means facts which are in the form of evidence produced in the
court. The foremost fact which is in the form of evidence and which shall be used by the parties to
validity of the facta probanda. It shall not be mentioned in the pleading.

The ‘rule of brevity’ that means last and final basic or fundamental rule and are not capable of
multiple interpretations but only one interpretation that the pleader desires to convey to the court.

In case of Virendra Kashinath v. Vinayak N. Joshi6 the court observed that pleadings must be brief
and niggling should be avoided. However, it does not mean that essential facts need to be omitted
or missed in an attempt to achieve brevity. However, the court averred, if syntax errors and drafting
style is perfect, pleadings can be precise and legible.

Additional Rules for Drafting Plaint:

The rule applies on the plaint and written statement equally, there is a certain sine qua non under
Order 7 Rules 2 and 3 applied to the plaint only. Rules keep changing and amending according to
the decisions of the courts.

Major four rules are:

1. Plaint ought to state the accurate amount of compensation claimed by the plaintiff from the
defendant.

2. A plaint must disclose every detail of the property in dispute to allow authentic identification
of property.

3. When the plaintiff has commenced the proceeding as a legal representative, the plaint must
contain particulars to show that the representative has sufficient interest to commence the
proceedings.

4. Plaint must contain a concise explanation for the reasons why there was a delay in filing the
plaint and why such delay should be condoned.

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11 Nov, 1998