Expected questions for moot 1

Q1. Parties in a civil suit?

Ans. Plaintiff and defendant, plaintiff is the person who makes a claim and defendant resisting it.

Q2. Parties in civil appeal?

Ans. Appellant (petitioner) and respondent the party appealing is called as appellant .

Q3. What are pleadings?

Ans. Pleading are the foundation of any case. It is a statement inn writing filed by the counsel of plaintiff stating his claims on
the case and on the basis of which the defendant shall file a written statement defending himself.

Q4. What is plaint, written statement and affidavit?

Ans PLAINT : is a legal document which contains the written statement of the plaintiff's claim. A plaint is the first step
towards the initiation of a suit. In fact, in the very plaint, the contents of the civil suit are laid out.
Through such a plaint, the grievances of the plaintiff are spelled out, as well as the possible causes of action that can
arise out of the suit.

WRITTEN STATEMENT: is a reply statement of the defendant in a suit specifically denying the allegations made
against him by the plaintiff in his plaint.

AFFIDAVIT: An affidavit is a written statement from an individual which is sworn to be true. It is an oath that what the
individual is saying is the truth. An affidavit is used along with witness statements to prove the truthfulness of a
certain statement in court.

Q5. When can an appeal be preferred? What is the limitation of appeal?

Ans. When either of the party is aggrieved of the decision passed by the court may go for appeal

Essentials 1. Decision passed by a court

2. aggrieved party

3. reviewing authority

For every appeal, there is a limited period, within which appeal should be filed. Such a limitation is provided under
the Limitation Act, 1963.

For appeal, in case of a decree passed by lower court in civil suit, the limitation is :

Appeal to High Court - 90 days from the date of decree Or order.

Appeal to any other court - 30 days from the date of Decree or order.

Q6. Under which provision civil appeal is preferred?

Ans Section 96 of the cpc 1908

Q7. What is a tort?

A tort is a civil wrong A tort arises when a person’s duty towards others is affected, an individual who
commits a tort is called a tortfeasor, or a wrongdoer. And where there are multiple individuals
involved, then they are called joint tortfeasors. Their wrongdoing is called as a tortious act and
they can be sued jointly or individually. The main aim of the Law of Torts is the compensation of
victims.

Q8.what are the different kinds of damages?

Liquidated damages are those in which the amount of compensation which has to be paid to the
injured person is predetermined. It is usually paid in the cases of contracts where both the parties
already know each other before the damage is caused by any of them and thus the Courts only have
to enforce the condition of such damages .Illustration: A enters into an agreement with B for
selling his goods to B and in the terms of the contract it has been specified that if the goods are
defective then A will have to pay a compensation of Rs.500 to B. If the goods turn out to be defective
and B files a case against A then amount of Rs.500 will be paid by A. Such compensation falls in the
category of liquidated damages.

Unliquidated damages are those damages which are not predetermined which means the amount
which has to be paid is not decided before the injury happens to a person. Unliquidated damages are
awarded in cases of tort because often the parties to such a case do not know each other before the
commission of tort and therefore it is not possible for them to fix the amount of compensation
beforehand Illustration: A commits the tort of trespass in B’s property and B brings a suit
against him in the Court. Here the award of damages which B will receive will be unliquidated
damages, as the amount of compensation will be determined by the Court.

1. Nominal Damages

Nominal damages are those in which even though the plaintiff has suffered a legal injury at the hands
of the defendant, there is no actual suffered by him. These damages are provided in the cases of
Injuria sine damno in which the Court recognises the violation of the right of the plaintiff but the
amount of damages are so nominal or low because of no actual loss to the plaintiff.

In the case of Constantine v. Imperial London Hotels Ltd., The plaintiff was a cricketer from West
Indies who had gone to the defendant hotel to stay but he was rejected on the basis of his nationality,
therefore, the plaintiff stayed at another hotel and did not suffer any actual damage. In the case
brought by him, the defendant was held liable because the plaintiff’s legal right was violated despite
no actual injury happening and they had to pay nominal damages of five guineas.

In the case of Ashby v. White (1703) 92 ER 126, the plaintiff was prevented from voting by the
defendant and the candidate for whom the plaintiff was going to vote still won. The plaintiff sued the
defendant. It was held that even though no actual damage was suffered by the plaintiff, the defendant
was still liable for preventing him from exercising his legal right to vote and thus nominal damages
were awarded in this case.

2. Contemptuous Damages

In these type of damages, the Court recognises that the right of the plaintiff is violated but to show
that the suit brought by the plaintiff is of such a trivial nature that it has only wasted the time of the
Court, the Court awards a meagre amount to the plaintiff as damages. This is similar to the nominal
damages but the only difference between the two is that in nominal damages the plaintiff suffers no
actual loss and in contemptuous damages, the plaintiff suffers actual damage but it is a trivial one in
which he does not deserves to be fully compensated.

Illustration: If A’s dog enters B’s house and relieves himself and B accidentally steps on it and is
disgusted and thus, he brings a suit against A, the Court will rule in B’s favour but because of such a
trivial nature of this case the damages awarded by the Court will be of a meagre amount.

3. Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages are awarded to help the plaintiff to reach his original position at which he was
before the tort was committed against him. These damages are not awarded to punish the defendant
but to restore the plaintiff to his previous situation. These damages are very helpful in cases of
monetary losses in which the amount of loss can be easily calculated and therefore that amount can
be ordered to be paid to the plaintiff so that he can replace the damaged product or goods with such
amount.

Illustration: K takes T’s bike and due to his rash driving the bike gets damaged. Here K can be
awarded compensatory damages in which the amount for repairing the bike will be payable to K by T
so that the bike’s condition can be restored back to its original state.

4. Aggravated Damages

These damages are awarded for the extra harm which is caused to the plaintiff which cannot be
compensated by the compensatory damages and it is given for factors such as the loss of self-esteem,
pain and agony suffered by the plaintiff etc. which cannot be calculated in monetary terms. These
damages are therefore additional damages which are awarded to the plaintiff other than the damages
awarded for his pecuniary loss.

Illustration: A makes false claims against B as a result of which B’s standing in the society is greatly
affected and he is also ridiculed by people which leads to him losing his self-confidence and self-
esteem. Here Court can award B aggravated damages for the humiliation and loss of confidence
because of his suffering which is caused by A’s act.

5. Punitive Damages

These damages are also known as exemplary damages and the purpose of these damages is to punish
the defendant and to make an example of him so that others are deterred from committing the same
act as he did. Thus, whenever a Court feels that the act of the defendant was severely gross, it
awards punitive damages against him to the plaintiff.

Illustration: A company advertises that its pill will help in quick weight loss and is made up of natural
ingredients, as a result, the plaintiff purchases it. But due to the pills containing certain chemicals, it
makes the plaintiff severely ill. Here the Court can not only allow compensatory damages to the
plaintiff but because of the company’s false claims, it can also award punitive damages so that it does
not repeat the act again.

Q9. Difference between damage and damages?

Damage Damages

The loss or injury sustained The reparation given as a result of Damage

Is the cause of action Is the end result of the cause of action

Damages cannot exist without the existence of sustained

Can be sustained without a claim for damages
damage

Damages are levied on individuals who are the direct or

Loss is directed towards property or person
indirect cause of injury

Damage could be sustained by a legal entity or

Damages are always directed towards legal entities
inanimate things

Conclusion

Through the above discussion, we can infer that though the terms sound similar they are very distinct
when considered from the viewpoint of legal application. One refers to a cause of action the other
refers to its consequence. One is used to describe the loss suffered, the other refers to the liability
arising out of that loss for the guilty party. Damage and damages are almost used together and
maybe even in the same sentence, but these terms couldn’t be more distinct from one another. The
distinction between the two forms the basis of one of the most common remedies available to
litigants.

Q10. What are the grounds of appeal?

Ans. An appeal under the Civil Procedure Code can be made under the following grounds:

A decision has already been made by a judicial or administrative authority.

A person is aggrieved of such decision, whether or not he is a party to the proceeding.

The appeal is entertained by a reviewing body

Q11. What is the prayer of the appellant?

A prayer for relief, in the law of civil procedure, is a portion of a complaint in which the plaintiff describes the
remedies that the plaintiff seeks from the court. For example, the plaintiff may ask for an award of compensatory
damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees, an injunction to make the defendant stop a certain activity, or all of
these. The request for a specific amount of money may be referred to as an ad damnum clause.

Q12. What are the grounds of the counter ?

Q13. Prayer of the respondent?

Q14. Support your arguments with the precedent and provision of law?

K.Veeraraghavan vs The Secretary To Government on 14 May, 2014