V o l . 1. 1 Ch. 1-B.

PART B.-RECEPTION OF PLAINTS AND APPLICATIONS.

1. Plaints and petitions should be received by the Not to be received

on holidays.
Civil Courts on every day which is not an
authorised holiday, during office hours.
2. Courts situated away from the head- Reception by
quarters of the district can receive plaints and Mofassil Courts.
petitions direct, under the general directions
prescribed by the District Judge or by a
Subordinate Judge empowered under section 37
of Punjab Courts Act, 1918, to do so.
3. (1) Plaints and petitions presented at the Distribution of
head-quarters of a district will be received and cases.
distributed by the District Judge who may delegate
this power under section 37 of the Punjab Courts
Act to any Subordinate Judge and should always do
so when it is for the convenience of the litigants.
Regard should be had to the provisions of Sections
15 and 20 and Order IV, Rule 1, of the Code of Civil
Procedure, in framing directions regarding the
reception of Civil suits.
(ii) The work of distribution of cases should
Duty of
not be le ft to the Re ade r or the Cle rk of Court. distributing
The Judge should attend to it personally, noting in officer.
his own hand the name of person presenting the case
and the Court to which the case has been assigned
for trial. He should also inform the person
presenting the plaint or petition of the date on
which he is required to attend the court to which
the case is sent and note the fact of his having done
so in his order. This will avoid the necessity of a
notice being issued to the plaintiff or petitioner by the
court to which the case is sent.
(iii) At the end of each day a list of all the cases List of cases
so distributed should be exhibited in the Court of assigned to be
exhibited.
the distributing officer. Similarly each Court
should exhibit at the end of each day a list of the
cases assigned to it by the distributing officer.
Note.-In almost all the districts in the Punjab, the District Judges have
delegated their powers of the distribution of plaints to the Senior Subordinate
Judges under the authority of Circular letter No. 653-G, dated 27th January,
1915.
4. Eve ry pla int or pe tition should, if Examination,
possible , spe cif y the provision of law under endorsement
and distribution.
which it is presented and should, at the time of its
reception, be at once endorsed with the date of its
receipt, and such endorsement should be signed by
the receiving officer. The Court-fees should be
forthwith examined and cancelled in the manner
prescribed in that behalf. The receiving officer
should prepare a list of all plaints and applications
received each day, and be held
 Vol. I. 2 Ch. 1-B.

responsible that they are duly distributed in accordance

with the orders passed thereupon, and the general
instructions (if any) given by the District Judge or the
Senior Sub-Judge in that respect.
5. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of the
Insufficiently
stamped District and Sessions Judge, Clerks of Court of the
plaints etc.
Senior Sub Judge and Judges of Small Causes Courts
and Readers of all other Subordinate Judges to see that
appeals, plaints and petitions, etc., received in the
courts, to which they are attached, are properly
stamped. When they are in doubt what Court-fee is due
on any document, it shall be their duty to refer the
matter to the Presiding Officer for orders.
These officials are primarily responsible for any loss
of revenue caused to Government by insufficiently
stamped documents having been received owing to their
neglect, but the ultimate responsibility for the loss lies
on the Judge of the Court whose duty it is to look into
such matters either when the plaints are instituted or
when the plaints came up for hearing before him.
Note.—The clerk of Court to the Senior Sub-Judge is responsible for
checking the Court fee on those plaints only which the Senior
Sub-Judge retains for trial by himself. In other cases the Reader
of the Court to which the suit is sent for trial is responsible.
Provided that the personal responsibility of the
officers concerned shall only be enforced where obvious
Transfer of mistakes have been made and not in cases in which a
cases to genuine doubt was possible regarding the correctness of
equalize work.
the Court-fee due.
6. The equal distribution of work amongst the Courts
available can always be effected by the transfer of cases
when necessary from one Court to another under the
authority vested in the District Judge.
When a case is transferred by judicial order, the
Petition box. Court passing the order should fix a date on which the
parties should attend the Court to which the case is
transferred.
7. (a) The petition box shall be placed in the verandah
of the Court house about one hour before the Court sits,
an official being specially made to attend early for this
purpose. It shall be opened in the presence of the Judge
about 15 minutes after the Court opens when all
petitions shall be initialed by him. The Judge shall pass
proper orders forthwith or inform the petitioner when
orders will be ready after the necessary kaifiyats have
been put up. The box shall be replaced in the
verandah and opened again shortly before the Court
rises for luncheon in the presence of the Judge and the
same procedure followed.
Vol. I. 3 Ch. 1-B.

It shall then be replaced once more in the

verandah and opened for the last time 15
minutes before the time fixed for the rising of
the Court and the procedure prescribed above
followed. After the box has been opened for the
third time, it shall not be replaced in the
verandah but petitions may there-after be
presented up to the closing hour of the Court to
the presiding officer personally who shall receive
them.
A list of all miscellaneous or execution
applications, on which orders cannot be passed
forthwith, should be prepared and exhibited out-
side the court room specifying the date fixed for
the disposal of each application.
(b) In urgent cases, however, the Judge may Urgent cases.
exercise his discretion and personally receive
documents presented to him direct at any time.
(c) The members of the ministerial Reception by
establishment are strictly forbidden to receive ministerial
establishment
petitions, plaints or other documents direct from prohibited.
lawyers and their clerks or from litigants except
when the Judge is on leave and no other judicial
officer is in-charge of his current duties.
District Judges should however, invariably make
arrangements for the reception of plaints and
petitions, etc., by another officer of a court when
an Officer is temporarily absent on leave, tour or
otherwise. Where there is a single judicial Officer
at a station such as a Moffassil or outlying Court,
arrangements should be made for the reception of
plaints, petitions, documents, etc., by the
Tahsildar or the Naib Tahsildar in consultation
with the Deputy Commissioners.
(d) The above orders do not apply to Exceptions.
applications put in by counsel for the inspection
of records which may be presented to the
Presiding Officer personally, nor do the y apply
to talb anas and stampe d postal e nve lope s
filed by litigants, which should be received direct
by the Ahlmad or the moharrir and a receipt given
for the same whether demanded or not.
8. Plaints and petitions must be filed, Who can file
petitions, etc.
except, when otherwise specially provided by any
law for the time being in force, by the party in
person or by his recognized agent or by a duly
authorised and qualified legal practitioner.
9. Recognized agents are defined in Order Recognized
III, Rule 2, of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. As agents.
to the appointment of a pleader, the provisions
of Rule 4 of Order III, Civil Procedure Code, as
amended by Act XXII of 1926,
 Vol. 1. 4 Ch. 1 -B.

and the instructions of the High Court given in

Chapter 16, part A, of this volume should be
carefully studied.

Powers of 10. 1.[When parties appear by pleaders, or agents duly

Attorney. authorized in that behalf, their Powers-of-attorney should,
when practicable, be filed in original with the plaint. Where the
Power of attorney is general one, a copy should be filed, the
original being presented for verification. When so filed, the
power of attorney will be considered to be inforced until
revoked, with the leave of the Court, by a writing signed by
the client and filed in Court, or until the client or pleader or
agent dies, or all proceedings in the suit are ended so far as
regards the client.
An Advocate at the time acceptance of his
appointment/engagement shall also record his
residential/office address, telephone/cell number, enrolment
number and if available, e-mail as well as fax number on the
Vakalatnama/Memo of Appearance/Written Authorization,
which shall be address for service within the meaning of the
Rule 5 of Order 3 of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Provided that where more than one Advocate
accepts the appointment/engagement, it shall be sufficient for
one of them to record his address.
Provided further that every
Vakalatnama/Memo of Appearance/Written Authorization
shall be affixed with the requisite Advocate Welfare Fund
Stamp. In case of urgency, if the Advocate Welfare Fund
Stamp is not available, the filing will be accepted subject to
the undertaking furnished by the counsel that the requisite
stamp will be affixed. The matter shall be listed before the
Court only after compliance of the undertaking unless
otherwise ordered by the Court. In the case of respondent
also where the counsel files Vakalatnama/Memo of
Appearance/Written Authorization, it shall be affixed with the
requisite Advocate Welfare Fund Stamp, and in case of
urgency, if the Advocate Welfare Fund Stamp is not
available, the same will be accepted subject to the
undertaking as above.]
Sending by
post.
11. The reception of plaints and petitions made
under the Code of Civil Procedure for judicial
purposes, by post, is irregular. All applications of a
judicial nature received by post should be filed and on
each application so filed an endorsement should be
made to the effect that it was filed as not having been
properly presented. This does not apply to
applications for copies of judicial proceedings, which
are not applications for judicial purposes made under
the Code; but are applications dealt with under
administrative authority.

1. Amended vide Correction Slip No. 74 Rules/II.D4. dated 15.03.2018.