The first code of civil procedure was enacted for the first time in 1859 and was later amended in 1877 and 1882, but those amendments could not serve the purpose and therefore the present code was enacted in 1908 by a committee headed by Sir Earle Richards. The Code of Civil Procedure is a ‘procedural law’ i.e., an adjective law. It mainly lays down the procedure to be followed by civil courts.
The object of the code is to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the procedure of the courts of civil judicature. The code contains 158 sections and 51 orders. The sections contain the main principles while the detailed procedures are dealt under orders. Code of Civil Procedure (amendment) Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2015 by Shrimati Meenakshi Lekhi, a Member of Parliament.
Statement of Objects and Reasons
In the statement of objects and reasons of the bill it is mentioned that due to a large number of pending cases in the Indian courts, it is urgent to do away with the provisions which unnecessarily prolong litigation. Right to speedy and fair trial is one of the fundamental rights under the scope of article 21 of the Indian Constitution and therefore the bill proposes certain amendments to the civil procedure code, 1908 in order to achieve the same. The bill seeks to remove the cumbersome steps involved in the execution of the judgement of the court by the judgement-debtor without delay.
According to the current provision of the CPC, the decree-holder has to make a separate application for the executing the judgement after a judgment and decree has already been passed. The question that arises is that why is there a need for the process of filing application for the execution when a judgement and decree has been passed. However the bill makes some exceptions in certain complex cases for exampleTransfer to Court for small causes (rule 4), Application for execution by joint decree-holders (rule 15) and Execution in cases of cross-decrees (rule 18), in which the procedure for separate application is reserved in the code.
The Bill, therefore, seeks to remove the need for a separate application for execution and places execution orders in continuation of the judgement and decree process.
Amendments made in the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 by the bill
The amendments are made in order XXI of the first schedule of the code of civil procedure which relates to the execution of decrees and orders payment under decree. In rule 1, sub-rule 3 clause (d) has been omittedand in rule 6, clause (c) has also been omitted. In rule 7 the words, “order for execution” is also omitted by the bill. The rule 10 in the first schedule has also been strikes out by the bill which related to the application for execution of decrees. The bill proposes to add a new rule 10A which states,
- “Every endeavorshall be made to ensure that the execution order is drawn up as expeditiously as possible and, in any case within the time limit prescribed in the judgement.
Provided that passing of judgement and decree shall be sufficient for the preparation of execution order and a separate application by parties shall not be necessary except for the provisions of rules 4, 15, 16 and 18.
- The execution order shall bear the date of pronouncement of the judgement.
- The execution order shall be signed by the judge only after he is satisfied that the order has been drawn up in accordance with the judgement.”
The amendment has made other necessary omissions in order XXI to give effect the objectives set out in the bill.
Thus the main intention of the bill is to dispense the procedure of submittinga separate for the execution of the judgement and decrees (except in some cases) so that it saves the time of the court and provides speedy trial to the decree-holder.
Sources
- Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
This blog is written by Alok Dubey, Asian Law College.
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