A civil suit begins when a legal person claims that he has been harmed by the actions of another person or business and asks the court for relief by filing a “complaint”. Most of the Civil Law suits are guided by the well settled principles of the Code of Civil Procedure.

An appeal can be filed under the Section 96 of the CPC, which states that, unless otherwise provided for in the CPC or any other statute in effect, an appeal is based on any decree passed by a court exercising original jurisdiction before the Court of Appeal which is authorized to hear the appeal in the Court’s decision

Special Leave Petitions in India (SLP) holds a prime place in the Judiciary of India, and has been provided as a “residual power” in the hands of Supreme Court of India to be exercised only in cases when any substantial question of law is involved, or gross injustice has been done. It provides the aggrieved party a special permission to be heard in Apex court in appeal against any judgment or order of any Court/tribunal in the territory of India (except military tribunal and court martial) [1]

The Constitution of India under Article 136 vests the Supreme Court of India, the apex court of the country, with a special power to grant special leave, to appeal against any judgment or order or decree in any matter or cause, passed or made by any Court/tribunal in the territory of India. It is to be used in case any substantial constitutional question of law is involved, or gross injustice has been done.

It is discretionary power vested in the Supreme Court of India and the court may in its discretion refuse to grant leave to appeal. The aggrieved party cannot claim special leave to appeal under Article 136 as a right, but it is privilege vested in the Supreme Court of India to grant leave to appeal or not.

An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts.[1] “When a court employs the extraordinary remedy of injunction, it directs the conduct of a party, and does so with the backing of its full coercive powers.”[2] A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties, including possible monetary sanctions and even imprisonment. They can also be charged with contempt of court. Counterinjunctions are injunctions that stop or reverse the enforcement of another injunction.

Damages and Specific performance are two ways to avail remedies upon breach of obligations by a party to a contract. While the former is ‘substantial’ in nature, the latter is a ‘specific’ remedy.

Damages

When the veracity of a contract is breached, it invites penalty for claims as compensation or damages for which multitude of remedies are available.[viii]Legal remedies include monetary or compensatory damages (reimbursing the damage for economic losses)[ix] or consequential damages (reimbursements for losses indirectly caused but needs to be proved that the other party had the knowledge of the contemplation)[x] or liquidated damages (for the breach explicitly stated in the contract itself).[xi]Equitable remedies compel a party to take actions against the other, designed to correct the breach occurred. Recession (entering into a new contract by scraping the old one)[xii] and reformation (re-wording the current agreement) are two forms of equitable claims.

Specific performance of contract

Granted by the court, specific performance of contract is an equitable relief enforceable against the defendant at the order of the court. It is the pecuniary compensation for failure in carrying out the terms of a contract.[xiii] Specific Relief Act, 1963 intricately deals with the persons who can obtain specific performance of contract.[xiv] The Court can order for a specific performance when either there is no standard for ascertaining the actual damage or when the non-performance of an obligation cannot be mitigated or compensated with monetary value.[xv] 

In Bolton v. Mahedeva, the claimant agreed to furnish the defendant’s flat with a specified amount payable by two installments. On the completion of the work, the claimant demanded his fees. However, the defendant refused to pay as he was unsatisfied with some furnishing. It was held that as the claimant has substantially fulfilled his part, he was entitled to the contractually agreed price. In Ritchie v. Atkinson, the claimant, by contract, agreed to carry a cargo of specified quantity of iron. However, he was only able to carry a certain quantity. The defendant argued for non-performance of the full contract and questioned the claimant’s full payment. It was held that the claimant is entitled to payment for the amount he carried.

Contracts are an essential part of every day’s functioning for an individual. It is the fountainhead of sets of rights and obligations correlated to each other. We enter into several agreements, unconsciously, without even realizing the same. Once entered, one needs to make sure to fulfill the object of the agreement. Frustration of the contract will lead to compensatory burden. However, remedies requires more than mere stipulation of breach. It needs to be established firmly.