The law dictionary defines a suit as a “proceeding initiated on the production of a plaint in a civil court”. The plaint is a statement of claim filed by the plaintiff who is the person who institutes the suit and has a cause of action to file the same. It is followed by a written statement which is a reply that is filed by the defendant answering the claim of the plaintiff within a period of 30 days as allowed by the Order VIII of Civil Procedure Code. After the written statement has been filed the suit enters the stage of admission denial of documents and the discovery and inspection of documents which is carried out according to the provisions of Order XII and Order XIII of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Then comes the stage where the court proceeds with the suit and determines the real issues involved in the suit in relation to the matter or any of the matters in controversy and the issues are then framed by the court after prima facie examining the witnesses of the parties and examining the evidence and the pleading on record. This stage of the suit is termed as the “framing of issues” and is governed by Order XIV of the code of civil procedure. The issue framing stage is then followed by evidence taking stage where the evidence of the witnesses, parties and the documentary evidence available before the court or which has been produced by the parties are examined by the court . The evidence taking stage is governed by Indian Evidence Act, 1872 dealing with relevancy of facts, the admissions, the manner in which the corroboration and examination in chief and cross examination has to be done and the procedure which has to be followed in this stage has been categorically stated in Order XVI of the Civil Procedure Code which with the attendance of witnesses and Order XVII which deals with hearing and examination of witnesses.
It is then followed by a judgment and decree by a court which has to be made in accordance with the Order XX of Code of Civil Procedure. The distinction between the judgment and decree has been mentioned in the definition clause but stating it very precisely a decree is a formal expression of the court with regards to an issue or issues and a judgment is the decision which is given by the judge of the grounds of an order or decree. The code of civil procedure defines an order in negative terms as any decision or adjudication of the court which is not a decree.
The proceedings in a civil suit though comes to an end after the judgment has been delivered but in practice the procedure is then followed by the procedure of getting the decree executed by the person in whose favour the decree has been passed who is called the decree holder in law. The process of execution of decree can be initiated in the court which passed the decree or the court to which the decree is sent for execution. The manner and the procedures regarding the execution of different types of decree be it a money decree, decree of specific performance is executed by the court according to the provisions of order XXI read with Section 36 to Section 50 of the code of civil procedure.
The entire process of instituting the suit to the examination of witnesses, the delivery of a judgment and decree and then the execution is carried out according to the different orders and rules and section as laid down under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure which is the ultimate manual to understand how the suit is instituted and the various stages through which a suit goes till the time the issues are settled and adjudicated by the court and the decision of the court is given the form of a judgment or a decree.
The author is a practicing lawyer at the courts of Delhi and can be contacted at lawyer.soniasaini@gmail.com