Weighing your request
Weighing your request
Quick Answer
A plaint is the first pleading in a civil suit. Under Order VII Rule 1 of the CPC, every plaint must contain: name of the court; name and address of plaintiff and defendant; cause of action with date and place of occurrence; valuation of suit for jurisdiction and court fees; relief claimed. The plaint must be supported by an affidavit-of-verification under Order VI Rule 15. Defects in the plaint can be cured by amendment under Order VI Rule 17, but rejection under Order VII Rule 11 is automatic where there is no cause of action or the suit is barred by limitation.
Statutory reference
Order VII CPC 1908
The plaint is where civil suits are won or lost years before evidence begins. Three drafting decisions carry most of the weight: pleading the cause of action with dates (because the defendant's first attack will be an Order VII Rule 11 rejection application arguing no cause of action or time-bar on the plaint's own showing), valuation (which fixes court fees and the forum), and the relief clause (courts do not grant what was never asked). Facts that answer an obvious limitation problem — a written acknowledgment, a part-payment — must be pleaded in the plaint itself, not saved for arguments. In commercial suits, add the Commercial Courts Act layer: a Statement of Truth verification and, unless urgent interim relief is sought, completed pre-institution mediation under Section 12A.
Worked example
A Noida components supplier sues for ₹18 lakh in unpaid invoices, the oldest raised just over three years before filing. The buyer promptly moves Order VII Rule 11: time-barred on the face of the plaint. But the plaint had pleaded, with dates and the bank entry, a ₹2 lakh part-payment made against the running account fourteen months before filing — extending limitation under Section 19 of the Limitation Act. The rejection application is dismissed and the suit proceeds. Two sentences of careful pleading, supported by one annexure, were the difference between a live claim and a dead one.
Related practice areas
Pleading filed by the plaintiff to commence a civil suit under Order VII of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908. Contains the cause of action, relief sought, and material facts.
Plaint is governed by Order VII CPC 1908. A plaint is the first pleading in a civil suit. Under Order VII Rule 1 of the CPC, every plaint must contain: name of the court; name and address of plaintiff and defendant; cause of action with date and place of occurrence; valuation of suit for jurisdiction and court fees; relief claimed. The plaint must be supported by an affidavit-of-verification under Order VI Rule 15. Defects in the plaint can be cured by amendment under Order VI Rule 17, but rejection under Order VII Rule 11 is automatic where there is no cause of action or the suit is barred by limitation.
Plaint falls under Civil Law. NyaySevak matches you with a Bar-Council-verified advocate in the relevant practice area — your first step is a free case assessment with no obligation.
Definitions describe the framework — your case lives in its facts. Talk to a Bar-Council-verified advocate. Case assessment is free and comes with no obligation; callback usually within 24 hours.