In this article we take a look at the periodic validity of a caveat petition and why such a time barred limitation exists.
The procedures of the law may seem slow because they have to be deliberate. No matter how apparent the facts of the case are. The judge must deliberate from every perspective, including the perspectives that have not been argued in front of him or her. This is why at every stage of a proceeding, the court gives ample time to all parties to prepare for the next step. But sometimes, this may be unnecessary and also cause inconvenience to the parties and the judge may not be aware of the inconvenience because he orders the time intervals based on the law or on precedents. So a provision was introduced in the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) that enabled any individual to file a document called a ‘caveat petition’ that helps them avoid this time bound inconvenience.
In a typical case, when a person files a case or makes an application in a court against another person, the court will issue a notice to the respondent of the application asking them to respond to the application within a certain number of days as laid down by the law or as precedent states. Then the court waits for the response. Once the response has been received the court will set aside a date for the hearing and then the two parties will face each other. During this time, the court could have ordered an injunction or a restriction on the defendant causing inconvenience. But if the defendant has filed a caveat even before a case has been filed or an application has been made, then the court will notify the defendant if the case or application actually materializes so that the defendant can defend themselves immediately and before the court passes any injunction on restriction.
Case Study
A magazine is covering a piece on a certain individual without his or her permission, in public interest. Parts of the piece show the person in an unfavorable light. The magazine, as required by journalistic ethics, notifies the person with regards to the piece being published and a chance to defend himself if he feels like. The individual threatened the magazine to refrain from publishing the piece or he would take legal action.
Anticipating the legal action the magazine’s legal counsel said that the court could grant temporary relief to the party if he filed the case and could withhold the magazine from printing the piece until the proceedings are complete. However, the lawyer also told the magazine that the court was unlikely to grant a favorable verdict to the person and would uphold the freedom of press in that case. So in order to avoid any delay in publishing the piece, the magazine’s legal counsel filed a caveat petition mentioning the details of the anticipated case and notified the person about the caveat with the application number and informing him at the same time that they intend to publish the piece in their next edition and he could proceed with legal action if he wished to.
The magazine soon received a notification informing them that their anticipated application had materialized and the hearing had been granted two weeks from then. On the said date, as the plaintiff made the motion to grant temporary injunction against the publishing of the piece by the magazine, the magazine’s counsel made his case in front of the judge before the judge could pass the injunction. The judge dismissed the application immediately and allowed the magazine to proceed with the publication of the article.
Validity Of A Caveat In India
Unlike other notices and petitions, where the court can grant a hearing and decide upon the merit of the matter, a caveat doesn’t involve any actual legal proceedings. It is an anticipatory matter where the court has certain responsibilities and duties that involve time and effort. A caveat petition requires the court to keep a constant track of all cases and applications filed to see if the caveator has been named as anticipated in the caveat. This requires man hours, effort and these two come at a cost. There is no saying when the matter anticipated in a caveat may happen. The court cannot hold onto a caveat in perpetuity. So the court charges a fee for every caveat that is filed to cover the expenses of the time and effort involved. The court then grants a validity of 90 days for the caveat. For a period of 90 days, the court officers will keep a lookout for the matter anticipated in the caveat and keep the caveator updated with regard to all the occurrences in the anticipated matter. After the expiry of 90 days, the court will stop servicing the caveat. The caveator has to file a fresh caveat and pay fresh fees if he wants the court to continue servicing his matter.
Contents of a Caveat
The caveat must contain the following:
- Name of the court in which the petition is being filed
- Case/application number in case the caveat petition pertains to an ongoing matter
- Summary of details regarding the matter, in case the caveat has been filed regarding a matter that may be filed in the near future
- Name of the caveator
- Address at which the caveator would like to be notified in the event that the anticipatory matter described in the caveat materialises
- Name of the person who the caveator anticipates filing the suit or the application against him or her
- Address of the party to whom the notification of the caveat petition has been sent.
The caveat has to be filed along with the following documents.
- Index
- Form to file caveat signed by advocate on record (Aor) Containing
- Cause title and case number
- Name of the court appealed from
- Date of impugned judgement
- Designation of the authority
- Court fees (applicable in civil matters)
- Vakalatnama and memo of appearance.
Once these have been filed and the caveat Petition has been notified to the prospective plaintiff, the court begins its vigil with regards to the caveat.
Conclusion
Many times we find ourselves helpless in front of the law because of lack of awareness. The law is framed based on very simple common sense and the principles of natural justice. So no matter what the situation is and no matter if you may be able to perceive the next best logical step. It is always beneficial to consult a lawyer as soon as you anticipate legal trouble rather than wait for legal trouble to arrive for a face off. If you have any queries with regards to civil procedure code contact Vakilsearch and we will ensure you receive the best legal counsel for your doubts.
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