Place of suits

 In simple terms, ‘place of suits’ means the place or venue of trial. It has nothing to do
with the competency of the court. Section 15 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, gives
us the information that “The plaintiff requires to file a suit in the lowest grade of court
to try it.
 Section 15 states that, “The suit must be instituted in the court of lowest grade
which is competent enough to try it”. This rule, being a nature of procedural does
not affect the jurisdiction of the court.
 In one of the case of Gopal vs. Shamrao (1941)1, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay
High Court observed that, a decree passed by a higher court cannot be said to have
been passed without jurisdiction2.

 In the case of Kiran Singh vs. Chaman Paswan3, the bench comprising Justice
Aiyyar and T.L. Venkatarama founded on the principle that once a case has been fully
heard and a judgment has been pronounced, it should not be overturned solely on the
technical grounds unless there has been a miscarriage of justice.

 In the case of Tara Devi vs. Sri Thakur Radha Krishna Maharaj 4, the Supreme
Court of India noted that, the particular suit is governed by section 7(IV)(c) of the
Court Fees Act, 1870. Hereby, the plaintiff has rightly valued the lease hold interest
created by the lessee. The plaintiff here is entitled to put his own valuation of the
relief claimed.

 Suits relating to immovable property :-

 Sections 16 – 18 is related to the suits which are filed for immovable property. These
are the sections which gives the rules and guidelines for filing suits concerning
dispute relating to immovable property.

1
AIR 1941 Nag 21.
2
https://blog.ipleaders.in/
3
AIR 1954 SC 430
4
AIR 1987 SC 2085
 Section 19 of the Civil Procedure Code covers suits involved in movable property. It
lays down the provisions for filing suits relating to movable property.

 It also covers the suits pertaining to compensation for wrongs. This section provides
guidelines for filing the suits seeking compensation for injuries or damages happened
due to wrongful or illegal acts.
 Section 16 covers the following types of suits:-
1. Recovery of immovable property [with or without rent],
2. Partition of such immovable property,
3. Compensation for wrong to such immovable property,
4. Recovery of movable property under distraint.

 Suits for immovable property situated within the jurisdiction of

different courts :-
 Section 17 of the CPC talks about suits for immovable property which is situated in
different jurisdiction or multiple jurisdiction of the court.
 In the cases where the immovable property is situated within the local jurisdiction of
the different courts if a lawsuit is filed seeking any compensation or relief for wrongs
caused to that particular property, it can be brought before any court within the
jurisdiction where the portion of the property is located.
 Section 18 of the Civil Procedure Code talks about the “Place of the institution of the
suit