Interpretation of word "Cause of action" - Indian Laws - General

Interpretation of word Cause of action Cause of action is every fact which it would be necessary for the plaintiff to prove, if traversed, in order to support his right to the judgment of the court. It does not comprise of every piece of evidence which is necessary to prove each fact, but every fact which is necessary to be proved. (Read (1888) Vol. XXII QBD 128, C.P. Agencies,). In other words, a bundle of facts 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 would possibly accrue or would arise. In a generic and wide sense, (as in Section 20 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908), cause of action means every fact, which it is necessary to establish to support a right to obtain a judgment, the necessary conditions for the maintenance of the suit, including not only the infraction of the right, but also the infraction coupled with the right itself. These are all those essential facts without the proof of which the plaintiff must fail in his suit. It refers entirely to the grounds set forth in the plaint as the cause of action , or, in other words, to the media upon which the plaintiff asks the court to arrive at a conclusion in his favour. The expression cause of action is generally understood to mean a situation or state of facts that entitles a party to maintain an action in a court or a Tribunal; a group of operative facts giving rise to one or more bases of suing; a factual situation that entitles one person to obtain a remedy in court from another person (Black s Law Dictionary). In Stroud s Judicial Dictionary- a cause of action is stated to be the entire set of facts that gives rise to an enforceable claim; In Words and Phrases (4th Edn.)- the meaning attributed to the phrase cause of action in common legal parlance is existence of those facts, which give a party a right to judicial interference on his behalf. In Halsbury s Laws of England (4th Edn.): Cause of action has been defined as meaning simply a factual situation, the existence of which entitles one person to obtain from the court a remedy against another person. The phrase has been held from earliest time to include every fact which is material to be proved to entitle the plaintiff to succeed, and every fact which a defendant would have a right to traverse. Cause of action has also been taken to mean that a particular act on the part of the defendant which gives the plaintiff his cause of complaint, or the subject-matter of grievance founding the action , not merely the technical cause of action . The collocation of the words cause of action , wholly or in part, arises seems to have been lifted from Section 20 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which section also deals with the jurisdictional aspect of Courts. Although in view of Section 141 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the provisions thereof would not apply to writ proceedings, the phraseology used in Section 20(c) of the Code of Civil Procedure, and Clause (2) of Article 226, being in pari materia, the decisions of the Supreme Court rendered on an interpretation of Section 20(c) CPC apply to writ proceedings also. [( Ambica Industries,; Kusum Ingots Alloys Ltd.- 2007 (5) TMI 21 - SUPREME COURT The Cause of action , for the purpose of Article 226 (2) of the Constitution of India, for all intent and purport, must be assigned the same meaning as envisaged under Section 20(c) of the Code of Civil Procedure. It means a bundle of facts which are required to be proved. The entire bundle of facts pleaded, however, need not constitute a cause of action as what is necessary to be proved is material facts whereupon a writ petition can be allowed. [ Eastern Coalfields Ltd. and Others Vs. Kalyan Banerjee, 2008 (3) TMI 480 - SUPREME COURT]. [Bhavendra Hasmukhlal Patadia vs UOI- 2022 (5) TMI 235 - GUJARAT HIGH COURT] Expression cause of action The expression cause of action has acquired a judicially-settled meaning. In the restricted sense cause of action means the circumstances 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. Compendiously the expression means every fact which it would be necessary for the plaintiff to prove, if traversed, in order to support his right to the judgment of the Court. Every fact which is necessary to be proved, as distinguished from every piece of evidence which is necessary to prove each fact, comprises in cause of action . In Halsbury's Laws of England (Fourth Edition) it has been stated as follows: 'Cause of action' has been defined as meaning simply a factual situation the existence of which entitles one person to obtain from the Court a remedy against another person. The phrase has been held from earliest time to include every fact which is material to be proved to entitle the plaintiff to succeed, and every fact which a defendant would have a right to traverse. 'Cause of action' has also been taken to mean that particular act on the part of the defendant which gives the plaintiff his cause of complaint, or the subject matter of grievance founding the action, not merely the technical cause of action. [Kunjan Nair Sivaraman Nair v. Narayanan Nair and Ors., 2004 (2) TMI 731 - SUPREME COURT -]