STAGES OF CIVIL SUIT

1.1) 1. Plaint
1.2) 2. Summons
1.3) 3. Appearance of the Party
1.4) 4. Interlocutory Proceeding
1.5) 5. Written Statement
1.6) 6. Examination of Party
1.7) 7. Framing of Issues
1.8) 8. List of Document relied by the Party
1.9) 9. Discovery and Inspection
1.10) 10. Admission and Denial of Document
1.11) 11. Production of Documents
1.12) 12. Hearing and Cross Examination of the Witness (Order XVIII)
1.13) 13. Argument
1.14) 14. Judgment
1.15) 15. Appeal, Review and Revision
1.16) 16. Execution of the Decree

The Civil Suit is basically a dispute which arises between two

people or two organizations wherein a subject for dispute is
limited to monetary transaction and dispute related to immovable
property. The Civil Suit, if it is personal in nature than it is
governed under Civil Procedure Code and if it is related to
business transaction than Commercial Court Act also plays a
great role to set out the procedure. The Parties in the Civil Suit
are addressed as Plaintiff and Defendant.

Broadly, a civil suit passes through the following five stages

1. Institution of a Civil Suit (Plaint, Written Statement,

Replication, etc.)
2. Framing of issues.
3. Summoning and attendance of witnesses.
4. Hearing of Suit and Examination of Witness.
5. Decree/Order and the Judgment.
STAGES OF CIVIL SUIT
There are total 16 stages in a Civil Suit which are mentioned
herein below:-

1. Plaint

The document in which the fact of the case is mentioned that

document is known as Plaint in legal world. The entire Civil Suit is
based on Plaint and the Plaint is starting point or the starting
stage for all the Civil Suit. Order VII deals with the contents of
Plaint and some of the points mentioned under Order VII is
mentioned herein below:-

 Particulars
 Name of the Court
 Details of the Party
 Facts of the Dispute involved between the party
 Relief Sort
 Jurisdiction
 The Documents on which the party is relying upon.
2. Summons

After a Plaint is filed the Court may either accept the Plaint or
they may reject the Plaint if the Plaint is accepted the Court may
call the Party i.e. Defendant against whom the dispute is filed and
Court calls party by issuing Summon. Defendant to whom the
summons is issued may appear in person or through the legal
representative. If the Summons are addressed within the
jurisdiction of the Court than the same is addressed under
Section 27 of the Code and if the Defendant doesn’t reside in the
jurisdiction of the Court but the same resides in the same
Country than the Summons are addressed under Section 28 of
the Code but if the Defendant is residing outside the Country than
the Summons are addressed under Section 29 of the Code. The
Summons is also addressed when Plaintiff or Defendants want to
produce a witness in the Court, the procedure relating for calling
for witness is mentioned under Section 31 of the Code. The
procedure for the Service of Summons is mentioned under Order
V of the Code.
3. Appearance of the Party

The Party to whom summon is addressed needs to be present

before the concerned court and if the person failed to appear
before the concerned Court than as per Order V rule 20 an Ex-
parte order is passed by the Concerned Court. If both parties are
not present on the concerned date than the court after giving due
chance ay dismiss the matter.

4. Interlocutory Proceeding

Everyone knows that Suit is a Long process as it has many steps

before passing Judgment so before starting the stages of Suit
sometime the Court has to intervene in the matter to maintain
the position as it prevailed. Such Intervention is known as
“STATUS QUO”. The Plaintiff can ask for Status Quo order by
filing Notice of Motion in the City Civil Court or by filling Interim
Application in respective High Court. Following intervention
matter are entertain by the Civil Court:-

 Temporary Injunction (order 39)

 Appointment of Court Receiver (order 40)
 Appointment of Court Commissioner(order 26)
 Arrest and Attachment before Judgment (order 38)
5. Written Statement

In the simple language Written Statement is a Document in which

the Defendant mentions his/her side of facts of the case and
mentions his defense to the Plaint. Order VIII of the code deal
with Written Statement. Before Amendment in 2002, there was
no limitation period for filing the Written Statement but after the
amendment, it is mandatory to file Written Statement within 90
days, after the limitation period is expired it is at the discretion of
the Court whether to accept the Written Statement. Under this
discretion, the Court will give additional days to file Written
Statement but those days won’t exceed 90 days.
6. Examination of Party

After the Written Statement is filed the Court may ask the parties
whether they admit the allegation or they deny the allegations
pressed by the Plaintiff and such acceptance or denial should be
recorded.

7. Framing of Issues

The Court after the Suit is filed and after the Written Statement is
filed by the Defendant then the Court may ask the parties to
produce Draft Issues and after examining the draft issues the
Court may frame Final issues. Order XIV of code deal with
Framing of Issues.

8. List of Document relied by the Party

After the Framing of Issue, the Court will ask the Parties to
submit a List of Documents on which they are relying upon. The
parties submit the list in the form of Affidavit.

9. Discovery and Inspection

After the Document is produced in the Court the Party can apply
for inspection of Document. Order XI of the code deals with the
Discovery and Inspection of documents. After taking leave from
the court the parties can Inspect the Document.

10. Admission and Denial of Document

After the Party has ascertained the Document they may either
Admit the Document or they may deny the Document. The
Admission and Denial of the Documents are dealt under Order XII
of the code.

11. Production of Documents

After the List of Document is relied upon by the Party and after
Admission and denial of the Document, the next stage is to
produce the Document in the Court. The Party has to submit all
original documents in the concerned court. Order XIII of code
deals with the production of the Documents.

12. Hearing and Cross Examination of the Witness

(Order XVIII)

After the Production of Document, the next stage of a civil suit is

hearing of suits and examination of witnesses commence. The
first right to begin is of the plaintiff. The plaintiff has to submit
the evidence that was earlier marked if any evidence was not
marked earlier then it will not be considered by the court. And the
defendant’s advocate will cross-examine the plaintiff and also to
the witnesses who are from the plaintiff’s side. And the defendant
also presents his side of the story supported by his witnesses and
evidence from his side and the plaintiff advocate also cross-
examined the defendant.

13. Argument

As soon as the stage of the hearing of suits and examination of

witnesses is over then the suit is kept for the next stage i.e.
argument. Once the evidence has been submitted and cross-
examination is conducted by both parties, then both sides are
allowed to present a summary of the case and evidence to the
judge in the final session.

14. Judgment

After the concerned court has heard the matter the Court will
pass Judgment/Decree. The provision related to Judgment and
Decree is in Section 33 read with Order XX of the Code.

15. Appeal, Review and Revision

After the Judgment is pronounced and if the concerned party are

not satisfied with the Judgment/Decree passed than they can
either apply for Review (Section 114 read with Order XLVII)
within Thirty Days from the date of pronouncement of
Judgment/Decree or the aggrieved party can apply for Revision
(Section 115) to the higher court within thirty days of
pronouncement of Judgment, or the aggrieved party can also go
for an Appeal (section 96 to 110 along with Order XLI to XLV) to
the Higher Court within 60 or 90 days from the pronouncement of
the Judgment/ Decree.

16. Execution of the Decree

In this stage, decree-holder compels the judgment-debtor to out

the mandate of the decree or decree or order as the case may be.
It is the process by which a decree-holder recovers the fruits of
the judgment. The execution is complete when judgment creditor
or decree-holder gets money or other thing awarded to him by
judgment, decree, or order.