Question: Outline the fundamental rules of Pleading and Elucidate the structure of a

plaint.
Answer:
When a dispute arises between two people, be it about anything, it is preferable to resolve the
dispute without having to approach the law for the same. Reason being, the courts work in a
systematic way, in fact, the entire legal system, from the lawyers to the judges, work in a setup.
The judicial process is a detailed one, with several formalities and requirements that a person
should be willing to fulfil before he/she thinks of going to a court of law, pleading is one of such
formalities. In this article, we will go through the fundamental rules of pleading in details.
In disputes of a criminal nature, the police do all the research and investigation, and present the
FIR, or First Information Report, to the court, on the basis of which the case proceeds. In a
dispute of a civil nature, however, the advocates on either side have to prepare their sides of
arguments according to the facts of the case, and present it in front of the court, upon which the
case proceeds. It is not that criminal cases do not involve arguments and pleadings; they do, but
initially, the paperwork is often done by the police, the advocate only takes it further to establish
evidence and prove his/her client’s innocence or injury. In civil cases, the pleadings are much
more detailed, and all the work is done by the advocates themselves. This work is what is
referred to as pleading, in the most general sense. Pleadings are basically arguments and
evidence that the advocates in a civil case present before a court and are prepared beforehand
so that the advocates do not leave any important point out before their presentation.
The backbone of every suit of civil nature is what is called as pleadings. The meaning of the term
‘plead’ is to ‘state and argue a case’. Pleadings are the respective contentions of the parties to a
dispute which are reduced into writing so that they can be clear, concise, and unambiguous.
What the parties are fighting upon is mentioned in the pleading of each party, and each party
lays down their claim, or the abstinence from such claim with legitimate reasons as well as
proof. It is the main paperwork that is required by advocates while arguing their cases.
In a civil suit, there are two parties – the one who institutes the plaint/complaint, i.e. the
plaintiff, and the other, who gives a reply to the plaint in the form of a written statement, i.e. the
defendant. The plaint contains the cause of action, or the issue(s) in controversy. The written
statement contains the defences and denials in the form of a reply. All the legal documents, such
as petitions, motions, rejoinders, declarations, memorandums, etc. are included in pleadings.
In India, the adversarial legal system is followed, which means that there are two parties to a
suit. One of them stakes a claim, and the other disputes that claim. The case will proceed only
when the pleadings from both parties are submitted, along with relevant documents.
The procedural laws of today have been shaped by the laws and practices from ancient times.
The pleadings mentioned in our procedural laws existed much earlier in civilised societies, but
not in the present form. They can be substantially traced from England during the time of
Edward II. In Indian societies, before the advent of British, pleadings were conducted orally in
front of the kings, usually by a pandit, in case of Hindu laws, and by a maulvi, in case of Muslim
laws. They were supposedly well-versed in their respective law books and helped the kings in
the administration of justice and order.
After the British introduced their laws in the colonies, the system of jury became popular, and
the role of a king was reduced to simply moderate the oral arguments that went on before the
jury. In earlier times, judges were strict because they did not allow the plaintiff to have more
than one claim and the defendant to have more than one defence. It was only during the reign of
Queen Victoria, that the parties were allowed to raise more than one issue, whether of fact or of
law.
As time passed by, the arguments began to be reduced into writing, and were recorded by an
officer of the court on a parchment roll. As more and more cases came before the courts, the
suits began to be recorded regularly, and once dismissed, they were preserved as a judicial
record. Initially, the arguments were entered by the parties themselves, but that proved to be
misleading and defective. During the time of Edward IV, the rolls were preserved through print
machinery on paper, instead of parchment rolls. The Judicature Act of 1873 brought many
reforms in terms of pleading in England, and similar laws were put to practice in India. The Code
of Civil Procedure, 1908, is the current procedural law that governs pleadings in civil suits in
India.
Order VI of the Civil Procedure Code deals with pleadings. Rule 1 states that pleading may be
either in the form of a plaint or a written statement. The primary process of a suit is the
institution of plaint by the plaintiff and the response by the defendant, which is the written
statement. The main objectives of pleading, as explained in Ganesh Trading Co. v. Moji Ram, are:
1. To inform the other side of a suit against them, so that they are not taken by surprise.
2. To allow the court to determine the relevant issues between the parties.
3. To reduce expenses and delay in the process of suits
The overall objective of pleading is to narrow down the issues of the parties upon which
adjudication would take place, instead of raising irrelevant contentions and wasting the time of
the courts. As much as the pleadings would help the parties, their main function is to assist the
courts in defining the issues at hand, beyond which, without the permission of the court, issues
cannot be raised.
The Code of Civil Procedure was amended in 1976, by a select committee of eminent lawyers,
who possessed the necessary knowledge of the legal process in India, and subsequently,
redrafted Orders 6, 7 and 8 of the Code. These Orders are the most important in the context of
pleading and drafting. Appendix A to the Code also contains certain forms of pleading that come
in handy during cases.
Order 6 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, states the fundamental rules of pleading, which are:
1. Pleading must state facts and only facts, not law.
Every pleading must state material facts on which the party relies (facta probanda).
Unnecessary facts must not be stated. The facts so pleaded will be validated through
laws by the court.

2. Pleading must state material facts only.

Pleading must state facts and not law. A question of law need not be pleaded, but a
question of fact should be pleaded. In case the question is one where facts and laws are
mixed, that question needs to be specifically pleaded.

3. Pleading must only state the facts and not the evidence required to prove those
facts.
The pleading must not contain any evidence of the facts presented. Once the issues
(facta probantia) are settled, only then will the facts be authenticated through
evidence. Also, only material facts should be stated. Material facts are those which must
be proved by a party to a trial to establish the cause of action or defence.
 4. Pleading must state facts in a concise but certain manner.
All material facts need to be stated concisely. To be concise is to mean that the facts
presented must be to the point and not vague or implied. Every fact should be stated
separately, and the pleading must be in paragraphs, with numbers. Dates, figures and
amounts should be mentioned in digits as well as in words.
Foreign laws are not taken notice of by Indian courts. Therefore, they should be stated as facts
and not laws. Also, any condition precedent the performance of which is to be contested also
needs to be specified in the pleading. Customs and usages in trade and business need to be
pleaded as facts, and such customs that have been recognised by courts time and again
automatically acquire the force of law and need not be pleaded repeatedly. Facts of negligence,
rights and liabilities, wrongful and unlawful acts need to be pleaded specifically as well.
As far as the stating of material facts is concerned, there are two points in this regard.
Firstly, where the matter of a document is material to the suit, only the effect of the document
can be stated unless any part of the document or some specific words are not to be considered.
Secondly, matters of inducement, which are primarily the preliminary points in a plaint,
mentioning the background of the parties and how they are related, can be stated in the
pleading, even though they are not material facts. This is allowed both in England and in India.
In contractual matters, the mere denial of a contract is not sufficient, denial of the facts of a
contract and inadequacy in law needs to be mentioned specifically.
General Points to note are as follows:
The names and places must be mentioned with correct spellings and the spellings must be the
same throughout the pleading. The use of pronouns should be avoided so that confusion is not
created. The plaintiff and the defendant must be mentioned by the word ‘plaintiff’ and
‘defendant’ in the pleading. If the parties on either side are more than one, then the names of the
parties along with their side (plaintiff/defendant) can be used. All facts must be presented
boldly, and personal language must be avoided at all costs, because it alters the case. Ifs and buts
should be avoided, as well as complex sentences. Facts should not be unnecessarily repeated.
Notices, if not directly material, shall be stated as facts. Implied contracts and relations shall be
referred to as facts, and such relations, whether established through letters, emails, etc. can be
referred generally, without details.
Pleadings should always be signed by the party and their advocate, and verification must also be
done. In case the dispute is with a company, the secretary or any principal officer of the
company is responsible for signatures and verification.
The law permits a person to rely on more than one right and similarly, the defendant can also
take up more than one defence. Pleadings can be amended, but only according to Order 6 Rule
17 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Pleadings form the primary step in any suit. They lay down the contentions on which the parties
seek resolution, as well as the relevant documents and evidence that the court will look into
while determining the case. Without pleadings, the whole process of deciding a suit would be
haphazard because there would be no written statements on any part and no documents to
furnish proof of the same.
Material facts are those which form the main part of the dispute, i.e. the facts on which the
dispute arose. These facts need to be mentioned in the pleadings because they give the basis of
the plaint and written statement of the plaintiff and defendant, respectively.
Structure of a Plaint
A Plaint is a legal document that contains the content of any civil suit which shows the Plaintiff’s
claim after filing suit. The plaint is the first step of the Plaintiff in the form of a legal document
for the commencement of suit and it shows what a Plaintiff wants from that suit. The concept of
a plaint is mentioned in the Civil Procedure Code. Through the help of plaint, the plaintiff
narrates or describes the cause of action and related information which is considered as
essential from the viewpoint of the suit.
In the case of plaint, the cause of action consists of two divisions, first is the legal theory (the
factual situation based on which the plaintiff claims to have suffered) and second is the legal
remedy that the plaintiff seeks from the court. A plaint is considered an important concept
because it is the foremost and initial stage to initiate any lawsuit and helps to find a civil court of
appropriate jurisdiction.
Order VII of the Code of Civil Procedure deals, particularly with plaint. In Order VII of CPC, there
are many different rules which deal with different constituents of plaint. Rules 1 to 8 deal with
the particulars of the plaint. Rule 9 of CPC deals with how the plaint will be admitted and after
that Rule 10 to 10-B talks about the return of the plaint and the appearance of parties. And the
main Rules i.e 11 to 13 deal with the rejection of the plaint and in which circumstances the
plaint can be rejected.
Section 26 of the Code of Civil Procedure states “Every suit shall be instituted by the
presentation of a plaint or in such other manner as may be prescribed.” This section clearly
shows that plaint is very much necessary for the establishment of a suit before the civil or
commercial court.
Necessary Contents of A Plaint
A plaint is a legal document that contains a lot of necessary contents in the absence of which, it
cannot be considered as a plaint. The contents necessary for a plaint are mentioned in Rules 1 to
8 of Order VII of CPC. These are mentioned below:
1. Plaint should contain the name of the commercial or civil court where a suit will be
initiated.
2. Plaint should contain details of the plaintiff such as the name, address, and description.
3. Plaint should contain the name, residence, and description of the defendant.
4. When a plaintiff has some defects or problems in health or any type of disability, the
Plaint should contain a statement of these effects.
5. Plaint should contain the facts due to which cause of action arises and where the cause
of action arises it should also be mentioned.
6. Plaint should not only mention facts due to which cause of action arises but also those
facts which help in recognizing the jurisdiction.
7. Plaint should also contain about that relief which the plaintiff seeks from the court.
8. When the plaintiff is ready to set off a portion of his claim, the Plaint should contain that
amount which has been so allowed.
9. Plaint should contain a statement of the value of the subject-matter of suit not only for
the purpose of jurisdiction but also for the purpose of court-fees.
10. At last, the content that should be on plaint is the plaintiff verification on oath.
This shows that the plaint is a necessary component for the successful initiation of suits in
commercial or civil courts and plays a very important role throughout the suit. Some additional
particulars which were not mentioned above include the following: Plaintiff shall state the exact
amount of money to be obtained from the defendant as given under Rule 2 of order VII whereas
Rule 3 of order VII of CPC states that when the plaint contains subject matter of immovable
property, then the property must be duly described.
Drafting of a Plaint
Drafting of plaint on any issue is considered as most important in order to file the suit in the
court and in this plaint drafted for the injunction on the use of unused land as a dumping area by
the resident of Malviya Nagar, New Delhi that leads to health problem of the plaintiff due to huge
collection of waste material and bad smell all the time.

IN THE CIVIL COURT AT SAKET NAGAR, DELHI

Suit No. 166 of 2020

Abhinav Sharma

B104, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi ……… Plaintiff

V.

Sharmistha Sharma

Malviya Nagar, New Delhi …….. Defendant

Suit for the Injunction On the use of Unused land as a dumping area
The Plaintiff submitted as under:
The plaintiff is a resident of Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, and the Defendant is a neighbor of the
plaintiff.
Unused land is near the house of the plaintiff, which is used by the resident of B106 i.e.
defendant as a dumping yard for the waste material of her house.
That the Defendant was all the time throwing the waste material in that unused land near the
house of the plaintiff.
Since a very long time of being used as a dumping yard by the defendant, there is a collection of
huge waste material that leads to the health problem of the plaintiff.
That the court has jurisdiction on this matter to fix an injunction on the use of unused land as a
dumping area as it restricts his free movement and also leads to affect health due to defendant
action.
Prayer:
It is Prayed that a decree for the injunction is passed in favor of the plaintiff against the
defendant. And some other relief as the court thinks fit.
Place: Malviya Nagar Signature

Date: 04/02/2020 (Abhinav Sharma)

Verification:
In the above-named plaintiff do hereby verify that the contents of the paras no. 1,2,3 and 4 are
true to my knowledge and the contents of remaining paras are according to legal advice from my
advocate which I believe to be true.

Place: Malviya Nagar s/d of Plaintiff

Date: 04/02/2020 (Abhinav Sharma)

Conclusion
The plaint is a concept that emerged in the field of law for the better knowledge of the point of
conflict and facts so that effective and well-informed decisions can be delivered. The concept of
plaint is required in the commercial and civil matters which are dealt with by the commercial
and civil courts. But the plaint has increased the complexity of the process and may make it
tough to file the suit for legal remedy by the common people. It is also a time taking process due
to which people are dissatisfied with this concept of plaint.
Due to the presence of many orders and rules under the provision of the Code of Civil Procedure
for the regulation of plaint rejection, formation, and drafting of the plaint brings a lot of chaos in
the civil system.
In my opinion, a plaint helps in improving the knowledge of facts and points of conflict.
However, simplifying the regulations under the provisions of C.P.C will make it easier for a
layman to file the suit. Otherwise filing a plaint with a lot of regulation is quite difficult. So,
instead of scrapping the concept of plaints itself, the regulation under several provisions of the
law should be reduced.

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