Fundamental Rules Of Pleadings

FUNDAMENTAL RULES OF PLEADINGS

Introduction Pleadings are the backbone of legal profession. It is the foundation stone on which case of a party stands. The case of a party must be set out in the pleadings. Pleadings are those materials or essential facts which are necessary to be averred in order to put forward a cause or to establish a defence in a judicial proceeding. It is the backbone of the suit upon which the entire edifice of the suit rests. It includes allegations and counter allegations made by one party and denied by the other. The word ‘Pleadings’ has been derived from French i.e. ‘plea’. According to Mogha, “Pleadings are statements in writing drawn up and filed by each party to a case, stating what his contentions will be at the trial and giving all such details as his opponent needs to know in order to prepare his case in answer.” Order VI of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 deals with pleadings in general. Rule 1 defines pleading, while Rule 2 lays down the fundamental principles of pleadings. Rules 3 to 13 require the parties to supply necessary particulars. Rules 14 and 15 provide for signing and verification of pleadings. Rule 16 empowers a Court to strike out unnecessary pleadings. Rules 17 and 18 contain provisions relating to amendment of pleadings.

Object 

to bring the parties to definite issues;



to prevent miscarriage of justice;



to avoid unnecessary expense and trouble;



to remove doubts relating to legal claims;



to eradicate irrelevancy;



to assist the Court in order to decide conclusively.

Fundamental Rules of Pleadings "Pleading" means plaint or written statement. Order VI, Rule 2 "Pleading to state material facts and not evidence" 1. Every pleading shall contain, and contain only a statement in a concise form of the material facts on which the party pleading relies for his claim or defence as the case may be, but not the evidence by which they are to be proved. 2. Every pleading shall, when necessary, be divided into paragraphs, numbered consecutively, each allegation being, so far as is convenient, contained in a separate paragraph. 3. Dates, sums and numbers shall be expressed in a pleading in figures as well as in words. The Fundamental Rules of Pleadings are: 

Pleadings should state Facts and not Law: Neither provisions of law nor conclusion of mixed law and facts, should be alleged in a pleading. The pleading should be confined to facts only and it is for the judge to draw such interference from those facts and to apply law applicable to facts pleaded.

The rule that every pleading must state facts and not law has certain exceptions: (a) Foreign Laws (b) Mixed question of Laws facts: Where a question is one of mixed law and fact, it is permissible and proper to plead both the facts and the legal conclusion. For instance, the defendant may say that the suit is barred by the law of limitation, or he may say he is entitled to set off after narrating the facts on which he bases his conclusions. (c)Condition precedent: Order 6 Rule 6 of C.P.C. provides that any condition precedent the performance of which is intended to be contested shall be distinctly specified in the pleading of the plaintiff or defendant (d)Custom and Usage of Trades

Kedar Lal v. Hari Lal AIR 1952 it was held that it is the duty of the parties to state only the facts on which they rely upon their claims. It is for the Court to apply the law to the facts pleaded. 

Facts stated in Pleadings should be Material Facts: Every pleading shall contain only a statement of material facts ion which the party pleading relies for his claim or defence. In Virender Nath v. Satpal Singh, AIR 2007 held ‘a fact which is essential to the Plaintiff’s cause of action or to the Defendant’s defence which each prove, or fail is material fact’.



Pleadings should not state the evidence: The Order 6, Rule 2 of CPC provides that every pleading must contain a statement of material facts but not the evidence by which they are to be proved. The material facts on which the plaintiff relies for his claim or the defendant relies for his defence are called facta probanda, and they must be stated in the plaint or in the written statement. But the facts or evidence by means of which the material facts are to be proved are called facta probantia and need not be stated in the pleadings.



Facts in pleadings should be stated in a concise form: The material facts must be stated in a summary form, succinctly and in a strict chronological order. All unnecessary allegations and their details should be omitted in order to attain brevity in pleadings. Pleading is not a place for fine writing but only assertion of hard facts. -

The same person or thing should be called by the same name throughout the pleading.

-

The pleading shall be divided into paragraph numbered consecutively.

-

Dates sums and numbers shall be expressed in figures, even though the pleading should be concise, it should never be obscure.

***