What Is Pleading In Law?

Have you heard of the phrase ‘I plead guilty’? It is a line we commonly hear in movies and TV shows during court trials, but do you know what it means? To plead means to request for something before a court of law. So, when someone pleads guilty, they are agreeing to committing a crime.

But in legal terms, pleadings are much more than that. They are important written documents used in court where both parties explain their side of the story. These pleadings help the judge understand the situation better and give a just and fair decision.

Even though pleadings are important in the legal system, many people have no idea about it. But, don't worry! In this article, we will discuss everything about pleadings under cpc, its types, and rules of pleadings in a simple way.

So, let’s understand pleadings in depth!

What Is Pleading?

Pleadings in general means to ask for something. But, In civil law pleadings are official written documents that both sides in a dispute file with the court. These documents detail the facts and issues for the opposite party which is required by them to prepare for the trial.

Pleadings are covered under Order VI the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC). Order VI Rule 1 defines pleadings as a “plaint” or “written statement”.

When an individual files for a case, they start by submitting their plaint in the court. The plaintiff covers details such as facts of the case, what they wish to pray before the court and on what grounds.

After this complaint is submitted in the court, the defendant files his written statement, where he explains his side of the story. Based on these submissions and other evidence that comes up in the process, the court takes its decision.

Objective And Importance Of Pleading

The objective behind pleadings is to define the issues and save time and effort of the court. It is important to let both parties put forth their case so that the Court can arrive at a fair decision. In the case of Ganesh Trading Co. vs. Moji Ram, the court stated that pleadings have three objectives:

1. To intimate the other party so that there are no surprises at the time of trial;
2. To let the court decide issues which need to be resolved;
3. To reduce the expense and time of the court.

For Ex - If you are filing a case against Mr A in court. Now, to let Mr. A know why you have filed a case against him and what remedy you want, you will make pleadings. In this, you will include the facts, issues, jurisdiction etc. Mr. A in return will explain why he doesn't agree to the claims made by you in pleadings.

So, that court has some specific issues to resolve and the time and expenses of court are saved.

The same has been held in the case of Throp vs. Holdsworth, that the objective of pleading is to narrow down the parties to certain issues.

Pleadings are not just important for the parties to the case, but also for the Court. It gives notice to the opposite party regarding the case, so that they can prepare their defence accordingly. Courts use pleadings to remove any unnecessary material or issue from the case. Courts generally follow the pleadings while granting relief to the parties, which means that if parties have missed something important in the pleadings, the court has the power to refuse it. So, preparing pleadings carefully is crucial for both parties as well as the court.

Also Read : WHAT IS A GUILTY PLEA?

Types Of Pleadings

As mentioned above, pleadings are of two types:

1. Plaint: Plaint is the pleading that's submitted by the plaintiff in the case. The same has been covered under Order VII of CPC.
2. Written statement: Similarly, a written statement is what is submitted by the defendant in court. In simple terms, it's a reply to the plaint. This has been covered under Order VIII of CPC in detail.

Difference In Plaint And Written Statement

Plaint and written statements may sound confusingly similar. But they are very different in the following way:

Fundamental rules of pleading

Order VI Rule 2 lays down the fundamental principles of pleadings. There are basically 4 principles that is the foundation of pleadings:

1. Pleadings should state facts, and not law: Pleadings should include only facts and not law. Now, the reason why law is excluded and parties are asked to focus on facts is that it is the duty of the court to apply law and reach a conclusion and the same is stated in the case of Kedar Lal vs. Hari Lal. The parties are required to only state the facts and leave the rest to the Courts.
2. Facts should be only material facts: Then, only material facts (important facts) should be pleaded. It means that irrelevant facts which are used to elongate the pleadings should be avoided. In the case of Udhav Singh vs. Madhav Rao Scindia, the term ‘material fact’ is defined as ‘all the primary facts which must be proved by the party to establish his cause of action or prove his defence’.
3. Pleadings should not include evidence: Facts are divided into two types:

• Fact Probanda - It means that the facts are required to be proved (material facts).
• Fact Probantia - This means that the facts by which they are proved (evidence of facts).

So, facts should include only fact probanda and not facta probantia.

4. Facts should be written concisely: Pleadings should be written with precision. It should be as brief and relevant as possible. But it doesn’t mean that important facts should be sacrificed to achieve a desired length of pleadings. Every allegation should be written in separate paragraphs, with important details like date and numbers.

Other Important Rules Of Pleading Under CPC

Order VI has 18 rules. While Rule 2 is the basis of pleadings, there are other rules which are equally important:

Rule 3. Form: The applicable form of pleading is form in the Appendix A.

Rule 4. Fraud, undue influence or misrepresentation: In cases of fraud, misrepresentation or undue influence, the pleadings should cover facts that include dates and items concerning such events.

Rule 5. Omission of Rule: Rule 5 has been omitted in 1999 via an Amendment Act.

Rule 6. Condition precedent: Condition precedent refers to certain conditions that must be performed by the parties before they are contended in the pleadings. If there are any such conditions that can be implied, the pleadings need not cover them. But if they can't be implied, then it's better to cover them in pleadings.

Rule 7. Departure: This rule bars the parties from withdrawing from their written pleadings later in the case unless they amend their pleadings.

Rule 8. Denial of contract: This rule states that if a party denies the contract, it won't affect the legality of the contract itself.

Rule 9. Effect of document: When in pleadings, parties want to refer to a relevant document, it would be enough to state its effect and the whole document need not be explained.

Rule 10. State of mind: Where mens rea (state of the mind) is an important element as per facts, just mentioning it would be sufficient. It need not contain the entire explanation for it.

Rule 11. Notice: When giving a notice to a party is required, there is no need to specify the terms of it.

Rule 12. Implied contracts: Implied contracts or relation between parties is included as a fact and how it is inferred need not be stated.

Rule 13. Presumption of law: The facts which the law presumed to be in favor of a party, should also not be included as the burden of proving it is on the other party.

Rule 14. Signature by parties: Every pleading should be signed by the party or his pleader.

Rule 14A. Address: Party should also include the address of both parties in the pleadings.

Rule 15. Verification: Every pleading should be verified by an affidavit by the party concerned.

Some Important Cases On Pleadings

Madan Gopal vs. Mamraj Maniram (1976)

In this case, the Supreme Court stated that pleadings are generally loosely drafted and courts should not scrutinize it in such a way that genuine claims are defeated. It means that courts should not be unnecessarily strict with pleadings and should follow liberal rules of interpretation.

Sathi Vijay Kumar vs. Tota Singh (2006)

The Supreme Court, in this case, held that when pleadings are unnecessary or frivolous, made with intent to delay the trial then, pleadings can be striked out under Order VI Rule 16.

Amendment Of Pleadings

When some important facts are missed from the pleadings or new material information comes to light, the court can allow amendment of pleadings.

Rule 17 of Order VI provides that the court ‘may’ ‘at any stage’ allow ‘either party’ to amend his pleadings if it is just. All the amendments must be made only if it is required to determine the real question in controversy.

Its provision clarifies that amendment is not allowed after trial has started unless the party can prove that in spite of due diligence, they couldn't have raised that matter before the trial started.

This provision may feel difficult to understand, so let us start with these three questions:

Q. When can pleadings be amended?

Earlier, the law was that pleadings can be amended at ‘any stage’ of the proceedings. It means that the law of limitation is not applicable and an amendment can be granted either before the trial or after it. But, now we have proviso which was added in 2002. It clarifies that the court should not allow amendment after trial has started. The only exception is that the parties had no idea about the issue beforehand and now want to raise it before the court for a just decision.

Q. Who can apply for amendment of pleadings?

As written in Rule 17, either the plaintiff or defendant’ can ask for amendment of pleadings.

Q. Is it mandatory for courts to allow amendments?

No, as per rule 17 of Order VI, courts are not bound to allow every application of amendment. The court can permit amendment depending on the facts of the case.

Objective Of Amendment

The major aim behind any amendment of pleadings is to allow all relevant facts before the court so that the court can do justice in the case. An amendment is allowed if it doesn't lead to injustice to the parties. Courts focus on allowing legitimate claims and refusing amendment if it prolongs the trial without a reason.

Failure To Amend Pleadings

Rule 18 of Order VI covers the case when parties fail to amend pleadings within a given time. If parties do not amend pleadings within 14 days from the date of order, they lose the right to amend it later. However, even then, the court has the power to grant an extension depending on the facts of the case.

Judicial Precedents On Amendment Of Pleadings

Kisandas vs. Rachappa Vithoba (1909)

In this case, the court stated that amendment of pleading is allowed if these two conditions are satisfied:

• It doesn't cause injustice to the other party.
• It is necessary to determine the real question in controversy between the parties.

Ganga Bai vs. Vijay Kumar (1974)

The Supreme Court rightly stated that the power to allow amendment of pleadings is very wide and should be used with caution. The court should exercise great care while deciding it as it may have far-reaching consequences.

Dinesh Goyal vs. Suman Agarwal (2024)

This is a recent case, where the Supreme Court explained the principles related to amendment of pleadings. The facts were that the plaintiff while filing the plaint did not challenge that the will is not genuine and filed an amendment application after 1 year. While upholding the decision of Madhya Pradesh High Court, it was held by the Supreme Court that determining the authenticity of will is important to decide the case. So, amendment should be allowed.

Conclusion

Pleadings are like the backbone of civil cases. It helps both parties to explain facts of the case and ask for a relief. When pleadings are made following the rules as provided in CPC, it becomes easier for the courts to complete the proceedings in time. Otherwise, there are various cases going on for years with no end in sight. So, having a basic understanding of pleadings can actually be our small step in ensuring that justice is delivered on time.