Judgments on Cause of Action

Code of Civil Procedure Section 20. Other suits to be instituted where defendants reside or cause of action arises.

 Judgments on Cause of Action:

(a) In Muhammad Hafiz v. Muhammad Zakariya, AIR 1922 PC 23, the “cause of action” was explained as under:-

“....the cause of action is the cause of action which gives occasion for and forms the foundation of the suit....”

(b) In Read v. Brown, (1889) 22 QBD 128, “cause of action” was explained as under:- “Every fact which would be necessary for the plaintiff to prove, if traversed, in order to support his right to the judgment of the court.”

(c) A similar view has been reiterated by the Supreme Court in Swami Atmananda & Ors. v. Sri Ramkrishna Tapovanam, & Ors., AIR 2005 SC 2392, wherein the apex Court held that the “cause of action” means every fact, which, if traversed, would be necessary for the plaintiff to prove in order to support his right for a judgment of the Court. In other words, it is a bundle of fact which taken with the law applicable to them gives the plaintiff a right to relief against the defendant. It must include some act done by the defendant since in the absence of such an act, no cause of action can possibly accrue. It is not limited to the actual infringement of the right to sue, but would include all the material facts on which it is found.

(d) In Kunjan Nair Sivaraman Nair V. Narayanan Nair, AIR 2004 SC 1761, the meaning of ‘cause of action’ has been explained by the Apex Court compendiously observing that the term has acquired a judicially settled meaning. In the restricted sense ‘cause of action’ means the ‘circumstance forming the infraction of the right or the immediate occasion for the action. In the wider sense, it means the necessary conditions for the maintenance of the suit including not only the infraction of the right but the infraction coupled with the right itself. The expression means every fact which would be necessary for the plaintiff to prove, if traverse, in order to support his right to the judgment of the Court. 

(e) In New Moga Transport Co. V. United India Insurance Co. Ltd. & Ors., AIR 2004 SC 2154, the Supreme Court explained the scope of Section 20 C.P.C. observing that where the party enters into an agreement it is permissible to institute the suit in two or more Courts, but if by agreement parties restrict jurisdiction only to one place, such an agreement is binding upon the parties not being contrary to public policy. However, the parties by consignment note cannot confer jurisdiction on a court which otherwise does not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter.

(f) In Kusum Ingots & Alloys Ltd. V. Union of India & Anr., AIR 2004 SC 2321, the Supreme Court explained the scope of clause (2) of Article 226, comparing it with Section 20 (c) of the Code of Civil Procedure and dealt with territorial jurisdiction of the writ court, observing that a court in whose territorial jurisdiction the cause of action has partly or fully arisen, would have the jurisdiction to deal with the case, though the original order might have been passed outside the territorial jurisdiction of the said court.