Civil Litigation

Civil law governs the legal relationships between individuals, families, businesses and institutions. When a contract is broken, a payment is withheld, a right of property is denied, or one person causes loss to another, the civil court is where the question is answered.

The range is wide — from a straightforward recovery suit to multi-party litigation running for years across several forums. What generally determines the outcome is not eloquence at the hearing but the quality of the pleadings, the discipline with which documents are put on the record, and the judgment to know when a matter should be tried and when it should be settled.

August Attorneys LLP conducts civil litigation before the district courts of Delhi, the High Court of Delhi and the Supreme Court of India, and applies to it the same preparation it applies to commercial and regulatory work.

Matters We Handle

Contract Disputes

Suits for breach of contract, specific performance, damages, and rescission where a contract was induced by misrepresentation or entered into under mistake. We act for claimants and defendants, in the civil courts and in the commercial courts where the Specified Value threshold is met.

Recovery of Money

Suits for recovery of sums due under loans, services rendered, goods supplied or other commercial arrangements. Where the claim rests on a written contract or an instrument and no triable defence is apparent, a summary suit under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is often materially faster than an ordinary suit, and we assess that route at the outset.

Injunctions and Urgent Relief

Applications under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 for temporary injunctions — to preserve an asset, restrain a transfer or encumbrance, prevent a threatened act, or hold the position until the suit is heard. Interim relief is won or lost on the material filed with the application, and these matters are prepared on short timelines as a matter of routine.

Tort and Negligence

Claims in negligence, nuisance, trespass and defamation. We advise on the strength of the claim, the appropriate forum and a realistic assessment of recoverable damages before proceedings are commenced, rather than after.

Consumer Disputes

Representation before the District, State and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, in matters of defective goods, deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.

Execution

A decree is not a recovery. Execution proceedings — attachment and sale of property, garnishee proceedings, appointment of a receiver, and arrest and detention where the statutory conditions are made out — are frequently as demanding as the suit that produced the decree, and we conduct them across courts in Delhi and elsewhere.

Procedure Is Not a Formality

The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 as amended in 1999 and 2002 introduced case management, the obligation to file documents with the pleading, limits on adjournments, and affidavits of admission and denial. These were intended to compress timelines, and they did — but they also created traps for a party that is not carefully advised.

A plaint that does not disclose a complete cause of action, a written statement filed beyond time without an adequate explanation, a document withheld and then produced late, an unverified pleading — any of these can damage a case before a single argument on the merits is heard. Our practice places emphasis on getting the first filing right, because the first filing is the one that is hardest to repair.

Have Questions? Talk to our eye specialists

What is the limitation period for filing a civil suit ?

It depends on the nature of the claim, and the Limitation Act, 1963 prescribes different periods for different causes of action — broadly three years for most contractual and money claims and for specific performance, and twelve years for a suit for possession based on title. The period runs from the accrual of the cause of action, which is itself frequently contested. Advice on limitation should be taken as soon as a dispute arises, not when proceedings are contemplated

Indian courts apply three well-established requirements together: a prima facie case, a balance of convenience in favour of the applicant, and irreparable injury that cannot be compensated in damages if relief is refused. Conduct and delay are also material — a party that has waited is less likely to persuade a court that the matter is urgent.

Yes. They are independent proceedings with different standards of proof and different objectives, and both may be pursued. The two must nonetheless be co-ordinated deliberately, since positions taken and material filed in one are capable of being used in the other.

An appeal is a rehearing on the questions raised, available where the statute provides for it. Revisional jurisdiction is narrower and is directed at jurisdictional error or material irregularity rather than at the correctness of the decision on the merits. Which lies against a given order depends on the order and the statute, and the choice is not always obvious.

This page is provided for general information about the firm’s areas of practice. It is not legal advice, and no advocate–client relationship arises from reading it or from an enquiry. The law stated is current as at the date of publication and may change.