Civil Law and Procedure: CPC, Contract, Transfer of Property and Specific Relief
What is tested
The Civil Law and Procedure paper pairs the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 with the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 and the Specific Relief Act, 1963. Questions are usually short problems that ask you to name the correct provision and then apply it.
Rules that recur
- Section 9 CPC: civil courts try all suits of a civil nature except those barred, expressly or by implication.
- Order II Rule 2: sue for the whole claim arising from one cause of action; the omitted part cannot be sued on later.
- Order IX Rule 13: an ex parte decree is set aside where summons were not duly served or sufficient cause for non-appearance is shown.
- Order XXXIX Rules 1–2: a temporary injunction needs a prima facie case, irreparable injury not compensable in damages, and balance of convenience; Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act binds a purchaser pendente lite.
- Section 100: a second appeal lies only where the case involves a substantial question of law.
- Contract Act: Section 10 essentials, Section 23 unlawful object, Section 56 frustration, Section 73 remoteness (Hadley v Baxendale), Section 74 reasonable compensation, not a penalty.
Worked example
A sues B for a permanent injunction; B pleads a compromise decree from an earlier suit between the same parties. That decree is res judicata under Section 11, so the boundary cannot be relitigated. On A's interlocutory application, if A's possession is not established, the balance of convenience favours the defendant in possession and damages are an adequate remedy, so the injunction is refused.
Traps
Confusing res judicata (Section 11) with Order II Rule 2; treating a Section 115 revision as an appeal; reading Section 74 as an automatic penalty; forgetting that injunction is discretionary under Section 41.