Summary Suit CPC order 37 rule 1 to 7
• A summary suit is a type of civil suit that is based on a negotiable instrument, such as a promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque. A negotiable instrument is a document that promises to pay a certain amount of money to a specified person or order. A summary suit is intended to provide a swift and summary remedy for recovery of debt without going through the lengthy and time-consuming process of a regular civil suit. This topic is important for the legal profession and the general public in Pakistan because it involves the enforcement of contractual obligations and the protection of the rights of the parties involved in commercial transactions1.
• The difference between a summary suit and a regular civil suit is that in a summary suit, the court may dispense with the oral evidence and decide the case on the basis of documents and affidavits submitted by the parties. If the defendant fails to obtain leave to appear and defend the suit, the allegations in the plaint shall be deemed to be admitted and the plaintiff shall be entitled to a decree. In a regular civil suit, the defendant has the right to appear and defend the suit, and the court has to record the oral evidence and examine the witnesses of both the parties before passing a judgment. The advantages of a summary suit are that it saves time, money, and resources for the parties and the court, and it prevents the defendant from raising frivolous or vexatious defenses to delay or defeat the claim of the plaintiff2.
• The laws and provisions that govern the summary suits in Pakistan are mainly Order 37 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908, which lays down the procedure and conditions for instituting, obtaining leave, trying, and executing summary suits. Other laws that are relevant to summary suits are the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, which defines and regulates the various types of negotiable instruments; the Stamp Act, 1899, which prescribes the stamp duty payable on negotiable instruments; and the Banking Companies (Recovery of Loans) Ordinance, 1979, which extends the applicability of summary suits to suits filed by banking companies for recovery of loans.• The steps and requirements for filing a plaint and summons in a summary suit are as follows1:
o The plaint must be in the usual form of a plaint, but it must contain a specific affirmation that the suit is filed under order 37 of the CPC.
o The plaint must be accompanied by the relevant documents, such as the negotiable instrument, the statement of account, and any other evidence to support the claim.
o The summons must be in Form No. 4 in the Appendix B or in such other form as may be prescribed by the High Court. The summons must contain a notice to the defendant that he or she must obtain leave from the court to appear and defend the suit within 10 days of the service of the summons, failing which the allegations in the plaint will be deemed to be admitted and the plaintiff will be entitled to a decree.
o The plaint and the summons must be served on the defendant in the manner prescribed by the CPC for the service of summons.
• The consequences of the defendant’s failure to obtain leave to appear and defend the suit are as follows1:
o The allegations in the plaint will be deemed to be admitted by the defendant and the plaintiff will be entitled to a decree for the principal sum due on the instrument with interest and costs.
o The court may pass the decree in favour of the plaintiff without recording any evidence or hearing any arguments from the plaintiff.
o The decree passed under this rule will be final and conclusive, and the defendant will not be able to challenge it in any appeal or revision.
• The conditions for executing and setting aside the decree passed under this rule are as follows:
o The decree passed under this rule will be executed in the same manner as decrees passed in other suits, and all the provisions of the CPC relating to execution of decrees will apply accordingly.
o The court may, under special circumstances, set aside the decree and grant leave to the defendant to appear and defend the suit, if it is satisfied that the defendant was prevented by sufficient cause from appearing when the suit was called on for hearing. However, the court may impose such terms as to costs, payment into court, or otherwise as it thinks fit.