| CPC – I

This is a mandatory course as per Bar Council of India Regulations and this course. We start the course by exploring several of the conceptual themes arising within civil procedure such as the following:

The difference between substantive law and procedural law.

The difference between questions of law and questions of fact.

The goals of procedural systems.

The factors that influence procedural systems.

How procedural systems can be categorised.

The adversarial – inquisitorial dichotomy.

Comparative civil procedure and its benefits.

What does procedure have to do with Justice?

The importance of Procedure.

The history of Indian Civil Procedure.

Peculiar problems with Indian Civil Procedure and the Indian Civil Justice System.

After the initial theoretical classes, we will encounter the Code itself and start studying it. In CPC 1, the entire trial court procedure from the stage of filing of the plaint, as the suit proceeds from stage to stage, until the hearing of the suit is covered (the remainder will be covered in CPC – II). The materials we rely upon are primarily the statutes concerned namely the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. We also rely extensively on cases decided by the Supreme Court and some cases of the High Courts.

In a typical class, the Course Teacher will first outline the broad principles under the topic being studied and then the class will read the statutory provisions. We then move on to case-law that illuminates the principles underlying the statutory rules.

Primarily, this course, it is to ensure that students have attained a good deal of familiarity and understanding of the black-letter rules of Indian civil procedure (“the trees”). Students are to be adept at applying the basic rules of civil procedure to draft, analyse and argue cases at trial and appellate levels. Secondly, it is also to gain a sense of the underlying concepts and principles (“the forest”) to sharpen our understanding of the rules and also so that we may appreciate the complexity and design of procedural systems from a broader perspective. Such an approach, it is hoped, would bring greater clarity and make the subject more interesting.