Code of Civil Procedure, 1908

Order IV CPC: Institution of Suits - Rules 1 and 2

Order IV of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 explains how a civil suit is instituted, the requirements that a plaint must satisfy, and how admitted suits are entered in the register of civil suits.

In brief: Rule 1 requires institution of a suit by presentation of a plaint in duplicate to the Court or its appointed officer. The plaint must comply with Orders VI and VII, so far as applicable, and is not deemed duly instituted unless those requirements are satisfied. Rule 2 requires particulars of admitted suits to be entered and serially numbered in the register of civil suits.
Order IV Rule 1

Suit to be commenced by plaint

(1) Every suit shall be instituted by presenting a plaint in duplicate to the Court or such officer as it appoints in this behalf.

(2) Every plaint shall comply with the rules contained in Orders VI and VII, so far as they are applicable.

(3) The plaint shall not be deemed to be duly instituted unless it complies with the requirements specified in sub-rules (1) and (2).

Statutory update: The words requiring presentation of the plaint in duplicate and sub-rule (3) were introduced by the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1999 and took effect from 1 July 2002.
Order IV Rule 2

Register of suits

The Court shall cause the particulars of every suit to be entered in a book to be kept for the purpose and called the register of civil suits. Such entries shall be numbered in every year according to the order in which the plaints are admitted.

Important: State amendments, High Court amendments, local civil rules and special procedural requirements may apply in addition to the central CPC text. For filing in a particular court, the applicable local rules should also be checked.

Official statutory reference

For the official central legislation, see India Code - The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 .