Rejection of Plaint and Grounds of rejection


The plaint is filed for the institution of the suit in the Courts of law. A court dealing with civil matters will be governed by the provisions of the Code. Order VII of the Code of Civil Procedure is envisaged with the provisions of the rejection of the plaint by the Court. The grounds of rejection, the limitation period after rejection within which the plaint needs to be re-filed and also other informative things. This rule is merely a procedural rule which ensures nothing but the proper application of the Court Fees Act 1870.

Rejection of Plaint

Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure elaborates on the rejection of plaints in certain circumstances. It has mentioned certain grounds on the basis of which the plaints are rejected by the courts. One of them is not mentioning the cause of action that the plaintiff seeks against the respondent. 

It is necessary to decide the application of rejection of the plaint under Order VII. The defendant cannot be asked to file a written statement without deciding on such an application if there is any. Furthermore, this rule can be applied at any stage of the proceedings. In a case before the Calcutta High Court, Selina Sheehan v. Hafez Mohammad Fateh Nashib, the plaint was rejected even after it was numbered and instituted as a suit. 

It is the duty of the Court to examine the plaint thoroughly and decide whether the plaint should be admitted or sent back for making amends to it. However, the plaint is bound to be rejected by the Court in the following circumstances –

If the plaint doesn’t mention a cause of action (Order VII Rule 11(a))

Order 7 rule 11 Cause of Action

Cause of Action has been mentioned under a lot of provisions in the Code of Civil Procedure. It is a set of allegations or facts which make up for the ground of filing a civil suit in the Court. One instance of the mention of Cause of Action is under Order II Rule 2 of the Code. Therein, it has been stated that for the purpose of instituting a suit, the cause of action needs to be explicitly mentioned in the plaint. If it has not been mentioned, then the plaint will be rejected by the Court.

It is the sole reason why a civil suit exists in the first place. It specifies the legal injury which the person who is instituting a suit has suffered. It also has the remedy or relief which the plaintiff is going to ask the Court to grant. The person instituting such suit also needs to prove certain elements i.e. 1. That there existed a duty, 2. The occurrence of a breach of that duty, 3. The cause of such a breach and 4. The damages incurred by the plaintiff. Thus, if the plaint does not allege the facts which are required for furthering the claim of the plaintiff, the plaint shall be dismissed by the Court citing the grounds for such dismissal.

Order II Rule 2 of the Code 

The term Cause of Action has been mentioned in Order II Rule 2 wherein it has been stated that no person shall be troubled more than once for the same cause of action. The principle behind this rule is that the plaintiff has to include all the claims at once in the suit which he is instituting. The test for the Courts is that the cases falling under this particular provision of the Code must answer the question that the claim in the new suit is found upon a different cause of action. 

However, the plaintiff is at full liberty to omit any part of the claim. 

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