Place of Suing. Where to file the Civil Suit against the defendant ? Section 15 of CPC 1908.

    Place of Suing

•      When the plaintiff intends to file the Civil Suit against any defendant then generally the first questions which arises in the mind of the plaintiff -  Where to file the Civil Suit against the defendant ?.

•      These questions will be answered by Section 15 to 20 of CPC which deals with the provisions relating to place of suing.

•      Out of which Section 15 of the Code requires the plaintiff to file the civil suit in the court of lowest grade  which is competent to try the civil suit.

•      Section 16 to 18 of the Code deals with the suits relating to immovable property.

•      Section 19 of the Code applies to the suits for compensation for wrong caused to the person or to the movable property.

•      Section 20 is a residuary section and it covers all the cases which are not dealt with by Sections 15 to 19 of the Code.

•      Section 21 of the Code recognizes the well- established principle that the defect as to the territorial or pecuniary jurisdiction can be waived by the appellate or revisional court in certain cases.

•      Section 21-A of the Code bars a substantive suit for setting aside a decree which is passed by a Court on the ground of want of territorial jurisdiction.

 

Court in which suits to be instituted
[ Section 15]

•      According to Section 15 of the Code

•      Every suit

•      Shall be

•      Instituted

•      In the Court

•      Of the lowest Grade

•      Competent to try it.

•      Under Section 15 of the Code Grade means the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Court.

•      So as per Section 15 of the Code every civil suit shall be filed in the Court of the lowest grade which is competent to try that civil suit.

•      But it is very important to note here that the rule which is laid down under section 15 of the code is a rule of procedure and not of jurisdiction and therefore, exercise of jurisdiction by a Court of higher grade than is competent to try the suit is a mere irregularity and the decree passed by the Court is not a nullity.

•      But it is very important to note here that exercise of jurisdiction by a Court of lower grade than is competent to try it , is a nullity as being without Jurisdiction.

•      Let us try to understand this principle with the help of an example:  City Civil Courts and Small Causes Courts in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta have Original jurisdiction in respect of Civil Suits. Now let us suppose that the pecuniary jurisdiction of a Small Causes Courts, is, up to Rs.50,000/-. Therefore, a suit to recover Rs.40,000/- as damages for breach of contract can be tried by any of the Courts. But according to Section 15 of the Code, the suit must be filed in the Court of lowest grade competent to try it i.e. in the Small Causes Court. But if the suit is filed in the City Civil Court instead of Small Causes Court and the decree is passed by the City Civil Court, then the decree passed by the City Civil Court is not a nullity and is fully executable.

•      But if the suit is filed for Rs.60,000/- which is beyond the pecuniary limit of Small Causes Courts in the Small Causes Court instead of City Civil Court then the decree passed by the Small Causes Court will be said to be nullity being without the Jurisdiction.

Competency of the Court:

•      It is very important to note here that the Court before which the Civil Suit is filed must be the Competent Court to try the suit ‘at the time of filing the suit.’

•      Subsequent change in the value in pecuniary jurisdiction of the Court does not affect the jurisdiction of the Court, if the Court had pecuniary jurisdiction at the time when the suit was filed before that Court.

•      Prima facie, what is more important to note in relation to the pecuniary jurisdiction of the court, it is the valuation made by the plaintiff in the plaint that determines the jurisdiction of the court and not the amount for which ultimately the decree may be passed by the Court.

•      For example: If the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Court is Rs.10,00,000/- and the plaintiff files a suit for accounts and finally after taking the accounts, the Court finds that Rs.15,00,000/- is due towards the plaintiff, then the Court is not deprived of its jurisdiction to pass a decree for that amount of Rs.15,00,000/-.

•      So now we can say that every suit should be instituted in the Court of lowest grade which is competent to try the suit.

•      It is necessary that the plaintiff approaches the most inferior court having pecuniary jurisdiction.

•      If the plaintiff chooses wrong forum and moves the superior Court directly, then such superior Court may return the plaint to the plaintiff under Order VII Rule 10 of Code to be presented to the Court in which the suit should have been instituted.

•      The jurisdiction of the Court is determined on the basis of plaintiff’s valuation in the plaint.

•      But the plaintiff cannot deliberately undervalue or overvalue the claim for selecting or rejecting a particular forum.

•      For example, if the actual valuation of the suit is Rs.90,000/- and as such it is triable by the Court of Civil Judge Junior Division who has pecuniary jurisdiction up to Rs.1,00,000/- then the plaintiff cannot intentionally increase the valuation say to Rs.1,10,000/- so as to drag out the suit from the jurisdiction of Court of Civil Judge Junior Division, thereby enabling its institution before the Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division.

•      Similarly, where the actual valuation of the suit is Rs.1,10,000/- and as such it is triable by the Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division only then the plaintiff cannot reduce the valuation to say, Rs.90,000/- in order to avoid the jurisdiction of the Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division, thereby granting jurisdiction to the Court of Civil Judge, Junior Division.

•      Where the Court doubts that the valuation is made by the plaintiff for avoiding the jurisdiction of the proper Court then the court may require the plaintiff to prove that the valuation is proper.

•      If the suit is not correctly valued then the Court may return the plaint to the plaintiff to be filed in the proper court, but it is very important to note that the Court has no power to dismiss the suit on this ground.

•      The objection that the Court lacks the pecuniary jurisdiction to entertain and try a particular suit must be taken in the Court in which the suit is instituted at the earliest possible opportunity.

If such an objection is not raised before the trail Court and the matter goes in appeal or revision, then the appellate or revisional court may not allow the objector to raise the plea of “without jurisdiction” in support of his case.