Provision relating to caveat is contained in Section 148-A of the Civil Procedure Code, which is as under:
“148-A. Right to lodge a caveat.— (1) Where an application is expected to be made, or has been made, in a suit or proceeding instituted, or about to be instituted, in a Court, any person claiming a right to appear before the Court on the hearing of such application may lodge a caveat in respect thereof.
(2) Where a caveat has been lodged under sub-section (1), the person by whom the caveat has been lodged (hereinafter referred to as the caveator) shall serve a notice of the caveat by registered post, acknowledgment due, on the person by whom the application has been, or is expected to be, made, under sub-section (1).
(3) Where, after a caveat has been lodged under sub-section (1), any application is filed in any suit or proceeding, the Court shall serve a notice of the application on the caveator.
(4) Where a notice of any caveat has been served on the applicant, he shall forthwith furnish the caveator, at the caveator’s expense, with a copy of the application made by him and also with copies of any paper or document which has been, or may be, filed by him in support of the application.
(5) Where a caveat has been lodged under sub-section (1), such caveat shall not remain in force after the expiry of ninety days from the date on which it was lodged unless the application referred to in sub-section (1) has been made before the expiry of the said period.”
So, the basic purpose of filing the caveat is that the party filing the caveat will get a notice of application / appeal, and a copy of the application / appeal, etc.
Caveat is generally useful for the purpose of being able to represent / oppose when an interim relief is granted, because till that (early) stage the party filing the caveat may otherwise not have the notice of proceedings. Caveat enables such party to get notice and get represented at such earlier stage too.
For example, the relevant Supreme Court rules lay down that: “Respondent to whom a notice in a Special Leave Petition is issued or who had filed a caveat shall be entitled to oppose the grant of leave or interim orders, without filing any written objections.”
Likewise, it is provided in the Supreme Court rules that: “Unless a caveat as prescribed by rule 2 of Order XV has been lodged by the other parties, who appeared in the Court below, petitions for grant of special leave shall be put up for hearing ex-parte, but the Court, if it thinks fit, may direct issue of notice to the respondent and adjourn the hearing of the petition…”.
So, the basic purpose that caveat serves is that the caveator gets an opportunity to be heard even at the early stage of case and gets a copy of the appeal etc., and he is thus in a position to oppose the grant of any interim relief.
Otherwise, once the case has been admitted by the court, the respondents will in any case get the notice and will get the opportunity to be heard at the final hearing of the case, even if caveat is not filed. But, caveat helps to get such opportunity of hearing at the stage of interim relief too.
Filing of caveat is not mandatory for a party who has won the case in the lower court. Whether filing of caveat is advisable would depend on whether there is a scope for some interim relief being granted by the higher court against the order of the lower court and/or whether such interim relief can harm the interest of the party that won in the lower court.
This, in brief, is a general idea about the caveat. You should consult your local lawyer with detailed facts of your to decide whether you should file caveat in the higher court.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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