WHAT ARE THE INTERIM MEASURES BEFORE A TRIAL?

What is the Interim Order?

When the Court grants short-term help till the time a decision is made, it is known as interim relief. This is given to pass sometime when a suit is filed and when the lawsuit is heard and decided upon. An interim is a temporary order from the Court that is intended to be of short and limited duration and is usually until the Court has heard the whole case and made a final decision. This interim relief can be money to pay a bill or an order to not proceed with anything till the case is heard.

Introduction to an Interim Order

The word interim means temporary, for the time being, provisional, or something that is not final. An Interim Order is an order passed by the Court of law during the pendency of a case or its proceedings to ensure the interest of the litigation parties are not harmed in any way, and the subject matter of the suit is maintained.

The courts in a country maintain order and peace to provide justice and ensure the "Status quo" by owning powers necessary to do right to the parties between the commencement of the case proceedings and its final adjudication.

For example, there is a dispute regarding the property between A and B. A makes an application to the court asking B to do any construction on the property until the final orders are given or from selling the property to any third party. To protect A's rights and protection by ensuring justice to A, the Court will pass an order for A's relief until the final order is given. This order that is passed is known as an interim order.

Depending upon the nature of direction that is issued and passed by the Court, an interim order is classified as under:

• Restraining orders, also called Injunction: These are issued by the Court to stop the parties from acting in a certain manner during the civil action's pendency. These are issued to prevent situations where either party can suffer or be harmed because the other party continued to act in the matter, which was an issue.

• Directive orders: These are orders issued by the Court to direct the parties to act in a certain manner until further orders are issued or until the time of conclusion of the trial. These are issued if the non-continuation of a particular action causes harm to the other party.

When can an Interim Order be passed in India?

An interim order can be passed under Section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code of 1908 or the Specific Relief Act 1963 in India. An interim order is passed by the Court only if the following conditions are met:

• Where there is a prima facie case of misconduct that is in favor of the party which is seeking the order,                                            

• Or irreparable damage caused to the party, but if the order is not passed, then such damages are not ascertained in terms of money and are payable as damages,                                

• The balance of convenience is with the party who is requesting the order.

Real-Life Examples of Interim Relief 

• The Little Sisters of the Poor, who run a charity for older people, filed a lawsuit against Kathleen Sebelius. She is the Secretary of Human and Health Services in America because they wanted to be exempted from the mandate of HHS, also known as the Affordable Care Act, that required them to provide insurance coverage of contraception for the employees. On January 24, 2014, the Supreme Court of America granted the Little Sister's interim relief allowing them a temporary exemption from the Obamacare requirements until a final decision in the case.                    

• After many talks between the government employees' union and the government of India, the state government announced to give a 27% interim relief to the government employees. This was to take effect from January 1, 2014.                                        

• InterMune and AbbVie are European companies that conduct medical and clinical trials. The European Medicines Agency was to release data from a particular study to a third party. Hence, both the companies requested interim relief to prevent the European Medicines Agency from disclosing the important information until a later time. The relief was granted by the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union on November 28, 2013.

Examples of Potential Interim Measures Before a Trial

• Amy wants full custody of her children as she has filed for divorce from Jack. She takes their children with her as she moves out. Jack, in turn, requests interim relief in the hope that the kids will return home with him until the final custody decision of the Court.                                            

• A community group fights to preserve a piece of land that a developer wants to put a housing complex on by stating it as undeveloped. The community group requests to grant interim relief to stop the developer from starting construction until the Court hears and decides if the land can be developed.                                                

• A person seeking to publish a book shares sensitive information about a former employer: the employer files a suit against the employee and seeks interim relief. The Court granted interim relief to the employer that the writer cannot publish the book until a trial determines if he legally can publish such material.

Conclusion

Interim relief is a short-term delay in some action granted by the Court to help one participant in a lawsuit. It assures justice and may even lead to misuse of justice if the guidelines issued are not analyzed properly. Interim Orders have been helpful and necessary in providing justice to the party until the final decision is laid down. These examples were included to help you understand how interim relief works and when the Court can grant the relief.

Author: Ankita Agarwal