COMMON LEGAL TERMS

Admission
After a case is registered it is placed before the
Court for its hearing, known as the preliminary
hearing. The Court considers whether the case
should be proceeded with by directing the
respondents to show cause why the petition
should not be admitted. Sometimes the Court
admits a case without hearing the respondents,
or dismisses the case.
If the case is admitted, it is listed for a more
detailed hearing. Notice is issued thereafter

Affidavit
This is a sworn statement made by a party, in
writing, made in the presence of an oath
commissioner or a notary public which is used either
in support of applications to the Court or as evidence
in court proceedings. In writ jurisdiction, cases are
generally disposed of on the basis of affidavits. An
affidavit in reply to a petition, filed by a respondent,
is called a counter affidavit. The petitioners
response to this counter, is called a rejoinder
affidavit. All affidavits are verified as to the truth of
their contents.

Appeal
The correctness of the decision of a lower court or
tribunal is questioned by way of an appeal in a
higher court.
Arbitration
Settling disputes by referring them to independent
third parties as an alternative to court proceedings.
Attestation
The authentication of a signature by an authorized
person, who could be an oaths commissioner or a
notary public.

ANAPPEALAND AREVISION

The
two
i.e.
anappealand
arevisionare
differentconcepts
and
have
been
enacted
fordifferentpurposes. Their goals aredifferentand
they
servedifferentpurpose's
and
operate
indifferentspheres.
Appealis a genus andrevisionis a species thereof.
Anappeal covers a wider field. A party can approach
a superior Court by way of anappealen a point of law
as well as on facts. Once anappealis dismissed party
has got right to prefer a secondappeal. However, this
is not the case with therevision. The scope
ofrevisionis narrower in comparison to anappeal.

ANAPPEALAND AREVISION

Appeal: Appeal is a process of re-examination of the judgment and

decree, or order or the decisions passed by the original court is a suit
or in a case. The expression appeal has not been defined in the
code, but it may be defined as the judicial examination of the
decision by a higher court of the decision of an inferior court.
Revision:Revision is re-working and re-writing. Revision, meaning "to
see again," takes place during the entire writing process as we change
words, rewrite sentences, and shift paragraphs from one location to
another in our essay. Revision means the action of revising, especially
critical or careful examination or perusal with a view to correcting or
improving.
The distinction between the appeal and revision in the following:
(1) An appeal lies to a superior court, which may not necessary be a
High Court, while a revision application under the code lies only to the
High Court/Sessions Judge.

ANAPPEALAND AREVISION

An appeal lies only from the decrees

and appealable order, but a revision
application lies from any decision of a
court subordinate to the High Court
from which no appeal lies to the High
Court or to any subordinate court.
A right of appeal is a substantive right
conferred by the statute, while the
revisional power of the High Court is
purely discretionary.

ANAPPEALAND AREVISION

The grounds for an appeal and revision application are

also different. An appeal lies on a question of fact or
law or of fact and law, while a revision application lies
only on the ground of jurisdictional error.
In case of appeal the memorandum of appeal must be
filed before the appellate court by the aggrieved party,
but filing of an application is not necessary in case of
revision.
Ordinarily appellate jurisdiction involves rehearing on
question of law as well as on facts of the case whereas
revisional jurisdiction involves only the question of law
and this jurisdiction is never considered a rehearing.

Bench
The composition of judges sitting to hear a matter in court. In
the High Court, judges can sit singly, in division benches of two
judges or in full benches of three or more judges. In the
Supreme Court, the vacation judge or judge in chambers may
sit singly; division benches comprise two or three judges;
constitution benches five or more judges. The largest bench
constituted in the Supreme Court has been of thirteen judges
for the Kesavananda Bharati case in 1973. One or more judges
in a case may give judgement, but it is the majority opinion
that is the judgement of the Court. A smaller bench is bound
by the judgement of a larger bench; the judgement of a bench
can only be overruled by the judgement of a larger bench

Caveat
Where it is apprehended that an opposite party may file a case,
a party may file a document requesting the court that no order
be made in the case without hearing the caveator.
Caveator
A party who files a caveat.
Commission
A commission is appointed by a court to ascertain or
investigate facts needed to decide a case. A commission is
usually given specific terms of reference. Members of a
commission have been chosen from amongst experts,
academics, social activists/workers, advocates, judges and
others. Costs of the commission are usually borne by the State.
Such commissions have often been appointed in PILs.

Court Fees
These are mandatory charges payable
by affixing judicial stamps on petitions,
applications and various kinds of
documents before they are filed in a
court. It is only in legal aid matters that
the petitioners are exempt from paying
these fees.

Contempt of Court
A party wilfully disobeying an order of a court can be held
in contempt of that court. Under the Contempt of Courts
Act, 1971 this is defined as civil contempt.
Any act that lowers the authority of the Court or interferes
with the course of justice is defined as criminal contempt.
Each court has the power to punish anyone committing
contempt of a court and in some cases the Court can issue
suo motu notice of contempt. Under Article 129 of the
Constitution, the Supreme Court is given the power to
punish for contempt; under Article 215 of the Constitution
the High Court is given similar powers.

DISCHARGE AND ACQUITTAL

If the accused is allowed to be

withdrawn from prosecution prior to
framing of charge, this is a discharge,
while in cases where such withdrawal is
allowed after framing of charge, it is
acquittal

Decree
The formal expression of an adjudication which,
so far as regards the Court expressing it,
conclusively determines the rights of the parties
with regard to all or any of the matters in
controversy in the suit and may be either
preliminary or final.
Estoppel
A legal principle that bars a party from denying
or alleging a certain fact owing to that partys
previous conduct, allegation, or denial.

Ex gratia
Translates from Latin as out of grace.
Where a court directs that a payment
be made to a party ex gratia, it may
not be adjusted against any legal right
or claim of that party.
Ex-parte
In absence of the opposite side or
party.

High Court
Article 214 of the Constitution provides
that each state shall have a High Court.
This is the highest court in a state and
is subordinate only to the Supreme
Court of India.

The powers of the High Court are

broadly categorized as judicial and
administrative. In its judicial function
the High Court can be approached
directly (eg. writ petitions), or in
appeals or revisionsboth civil and
criminal.

In its administrative function the High Court

supervises the functioning of the lower
judiciary in the State. In the civil side, in an
ascending order of hierarchy, is the Civil
Judge (Junior Division), Civil Judge (Senior
Division), the Additional District Judge and
the District Judge; the criminal side includes
Metropolitan Magistrates, Chief Metropolitan
Magistrates, Additional Sessions Judges and
the Sessions Judge.

The powers of a High Court do not

extend beyond the territory of the
State. While every decision of the
Supreme Court is binding on the High
Courts, the decisions of one High Court
is not binding on the other. The High
Court is a court of record

Infructuous
A petition or application to the court becomes infructuous
when the fundamental premises upon which a petition is
based no longer exist or where the relief sought has
already been granted to the petitioner
Issue
Notice
When a Court decides to consider a case it asks the
respondents to explain why the case should not be
admitted (show cause). This is done by a notice sent to the
respondents which gives the details of the case and the
next date of hearing alongwith a copy of the petition. If the
respondent does not appear on this date, the court may
proceed ex parte

Judgment
The final order of a court in a case
which, while giving reasons, conclusively
decides the rights of parties in the case,
resolves the dispute and grants reliefs
Judgment-debtor
Any person against whom a decree has
been passed or an order capable of
execution has been made

Litigation
The totality of the legal proceedings in any dispute.
Locus
Standi
Translated from Latin as place of standing, locus standi gives
the right to pursue a litigation. Under this rule, only a person
or group of persons affected by the issue may petition the
Court.
A petition may be dismissed on the preliminary ground that
the petitioner lacks locus standi. However, in PIL, the locus
standi of public spirited persons to petition on behalf of others
has been recognized.
This relaxation of the rule of standing is an important feature
of PILfor instance, journalists, lawyers, politicians, social
activists, students, or any concerned individual not acting
for personal interest or gain, and not as a busy body, have
been given standing

Mesne-profits
Those profits which the person in wrongful
possession of such property actually received or
might with ordinary diligence have received
therefrom, together with interest on such profits,
but shall not include profits due to improvements
made by the person in wrongful possession;
Order
Any oral or written direction given by a Court or
any authority which is to be obeyed

Petition
A written document filed in a court asserting a claim or a right
and seeking relief on legal grounds.
Res
Judicata
A legal principle which prevents a party to a case which has been
finally decided from bringing an action on the same issue. For
example, a case is barred by res judicata if an earlier case
between the same parties has decided upon the same points. This
is embodied in Section 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Revision
Orders that cannot be appealed against can be revised by the
High Court on specific grounds, as provided in S 115 of the Code
of Civil Procedure, 1908 and Ss. 397 and 401 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Review
A court has the power to review its orders
on specified grounds, as provided by law.
Generally the same court which passed the
order or judgement in a case reviews its
decision.
There is, however, no inherent power in a
court to review its decisions. The power has
to be given by statute or be found in the
Constitution.

ARTICLE 136

Special
Leave
Petition
under Article 136 the SC is authorized to grant in its
discretion special leave to appeal from (a) any
judgment, decree, determination, sentence or
order, (b) in any case or matter, (c) passed or made
by any court or tribunal in the territory of India.
The correctness of any order made by any court or
tribunal can be questioned by filing a petition in the
Supreme Court under Article 136 of the
Constitution. If the Supreme Court grants
permission, i.e. "leave", the petition is registered as
an appeal.

Stay
Order
A party filing a petition may require some immediate
relief, even before the respondents can be heard or a
final decision given. An application is filed seeking an
interim order either to prevent the respondents from
performing an action that will affect the rights of the
petitioner or to prevent an order from being carried
out.
Sub
judice
A matter pending decision by a Court. Parties to such
a matter are required not to do anything that would
affect the outcome of the case.

Suo

Motu

The Court may take action on its own

when facts requiring legal intervention
reach its notice. The Court is then said
to
be
acting
suo
motu.

SUPREME COURT
The highest court in the country
constituted under Article 124 of the
Constitution. Its decisions are law under
Article 141 and are binding on all lower
courts. It has unlimited powers to do
complete justice. It exercises original as
well as appellate jurisdiction. Under
Article 143 the President of India can ask
the Supreme Court for an opinion on
questions of law or fact.

SUPREME COURT

States can file suits against each other or against the

Union of India under Article 131. The Supreme Court
can transfer cases to itself from the High Courts or
from one High Court to another under Article 139A of
the Constitution.
It can also transfer civil cases from one Court to
another under S 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
1908, and likewise criminal cases under S 406 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Apart from special
leave petitions, in certain instances, appeals can be
filed directly against the judgments of lower courts
and tribunals.

Petitions challenging the election of the

President or Vice-President of India are also
filed directly in the Supreme Court. The
chairperson of a public service commission
may be removed only after an inquiry by
the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has
a sanctioned strength of 31 judges, headed
by the Chief Justice of India. The seat of the
Supreme Court is New Delhi and its
language is English

Statute
A codified law that is enacted by the Parliament or a
State Legislature. A statute may provide for the making
of Rules and Regulations by the executive to facilitate
its implementation.
Ultra vires
Outside the power of.
Void
One that law regards as never having taken place
Voidable
Capable of being set aside as void at the option of a
party.

COGNIZABLE AND NON COGNIZABLE OFFENCE

Cognizable offences:An offence,

where a police offer can arrest without
a warrant.
Non-cognizable offences:An
offence, where a police officer cannot
arrest without a warrant.

FIR

What is First Information Report (FIR)?

Report pertaining to occurrence of a
cognizable offence, received at the Police
Station is called First Information Report,
popularly known as FIR. Since it is the first
information about the cognizable offence, it is
called First Information report.
On receipt of this information police registers
the report in a FIR Register and begins the
investigation of the crime.

FIR

It is an information given under sub-section

(1) of section 154 CrPC
It is the earliest and the first information of a
cognizable offence recorded by an officer-incharge of a police station. It sets the criminal
law in motion and marks the commencement
of the investigation which ends up with the
formation of opinion under section 169 or 170
CrPC, as the case may be, and forwarding of
a police report under section 173 CrPC.

FIR

What to do if the Police Station

refuses to register the FIR?
If the Police Station refuses to register FIR,
substance of the information in writing can
be sent by post to the Assistant
Commissioner
of
Police
or
Deputy
Commissioner of Policeof the respective
zone or Commissioner of Police. If satisfied
that
the
information
discloses
the
commission of a cognizable offence, shall
get the FIR registered and investigated.

If the FIR is still not filed, you may file

an RTI OR file a complaint to the State
Home Ministry, OR file a private
complaint with the Magistrate u/s 190
of CrPC OR file a Vigilance/AntiCorruption Complaint against the police
officers.

NC

What the Police Station does with a

complaint pertaining to Non-cognizable
offence?
As per Cr.PC, Police Station is required to record
an abstract of such complaint in the General Diary
which is called N.C. and advise the complainant to
file the complaint in the concerned court as police
is not empowered to initiate action in such
matters without the directions of the court.
A copy of the entry made in the General Diary
may be provided to the complainant free of cost.