INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anuradha Mukherjee, Omar Ahmad, Vikram Shah and Soumya Dasgupta, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
In the case of pre-action conduct such as the issuance of a letter/notice to a proposed defend- ant or mandatory mediation, the party initiating such action can proceed with its claims if the proposed defendant does not respond. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations The law on limitation for civil action is provided under the Limitation Act, 1963 (ILA). The limita- tion period for each specific civil action is to be computed based on the trigger date provided under the relevant category therein. Limitation periods under the ILA are as follows: • three years for the institution of a civil suit/ claim for the recovery of money; • 12 years for the recovery of possession of an immoveable property; and • 12 years for the execution of a decree. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant A court that has original jurisdiction will have jurisdiction to entertain a claim against a defend- ant if: • the defendant habitually resides, carries on business or works for gain within the court’s territorial jurisdiction; • the cause of action or part of the cause of action has arisen within the territorial limits of such court; and/ or • the immovable property that is the subject matter of the claim lies within the territo- rial jurisdiction of the court – this principle is applicable to all courts of original jurisdiction. Subject matter is also a determinable factor for the jurisdiction of a court. Specific statutes may confer jurisdiction on different courts/tribunals
for certain subject matters of dispute; please see 1.2 Court System . The jurisdiction of courts is also determined by the pecuniary/monetary value of the claim. 3.4 Initial Complaint Under the provisions of the CPC, a civil claim/ suit is instituted by filing a plaint, which is a state- ment of claim setting out the facts, the cause of action and the relief sought. Amendment of the plaint is permitted under the CPC in certain circumstances. Judicial prec- edent has developed over the years that pre- scribes the conditions where such amendments would be permitted or disallowed. 3.5 Rules of Service Rules of service are provided under the CPC. Upon the filing of a suit, the court issues sum- mons to the defendant to appear and answer the claim and file its written statement of defence. Summons can be issued and intimated to the defendant ordinarily by post, and by other means in certain cases, including email and courier. The cost of service of summons (ie, a “process fee”) has to be borne by the plaintiff. Summons can be served to a defendant outside the territorial jurisdiction of the court. As men- tioned in 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant , if the cause of action or part of the cause of action has arisen within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, the defendant would be amenable to the jurisdiction of such court even if they reside outside the local limits of the court’s jurisdiction.
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