Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
What the exam tests
The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is tested through the movement of a suit: institution, pleadings, interim protection, trial, judgment, appeal and execution. Questions reward precise section and Order-Rule recall plus the discipline to distinguish mandatory provisions from discretionary ones.
Core rules
- Section 9 confers jurisdiction over suits of a civil nature unless barred expressly or by necessary implication.
- Section 11 codifies res judicata: a matter directly and substantially in issue in a former suit, between the same parties, decided by a competent court, cannot be relitigated.
- Order II Rule 2 obliges the plaintiff to claim every relief arising from one cause of action; an omitted relief is barred in a later suit absent leave under Rule 2(3).
- Order VII Rule 11 allows rejection of a plaint, including (post-2015 amendment) where the suit appears from the plaint itself to be barred by limitation; the court reads the plaint as it stands, without evidence.
- Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 require three cumulative elements for a temporary injunction: prima facie case, irreparable injury not compensable in money, and balance of convenience.
- Order VI Rule 17 permits amendment at any stage, but after trial commences only where the party satisfies due diligence.
Worked example
A sues B for possession on title and later sues again for mesne profits for the same period. The second suit fails under Order II Rule 2(1): mesne profits arise from the same cause of action, and leave under Rule 2(3) was never sought, so the omission is treated as a waiver.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing rejection of a plaint with dismissal of the suit; ignoring the Section 80 notice and its urgency exception under Section 80(2); treating an injunction as a substitute for the final relief; and invoking Section 151 where a specific provision already governs the situation.