Analysis of caveat petition under Section 148A of

Civil Procedure Code

Introduction to Caveat Petition

Caveat petition is led under Section 148 of the Civil procedure Code. Caveat generally means
“a warning or caution, beware”. It is a popular term which is used in Law to point out that there
could be a hidden problem to warn someone. In Law, it is understood as formal notice or
warning given by an interested party to a court, judge, or ministerial o cer in opposition to
certain acts within his or her power and jurisdiction. The Court basically explains Caveat as a
caution or warning given by a person to the court that the court should not pass any
judgement, ex-parte order/order before giving prior notice or without hearing the person who
can be called a caveator.

Purpose and Scope of the Section

The main purpose of this section is to protect the interest of the Caveator, who may need to
face the proceedings, which is likely to be led by his opponent. This section is also important
to save the cost and convenience of the Court as it can avoid the multiplicity of the Court.

Section 148 of the Civil Procedure Code mentions

[148 A. Right to lodge a caveat.— (1) Any person who is claiming the right to appear before
the court may le a caveat 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.
(2) The caveator (who lodged the caveat under subsection (1) shall issue a notice of the caveat
on the person who has led an application or who is expected to make an application by
registered post, acknowledgement due.
(3) In case, a caveat has been lodged by the caveator, under sub-section (1), the court shall
serve a notice to the caveator of any application led in any suit or proceeding.
(4) In case, a notice of any caveat has been served on the applicant, the applicant shall furnish a
copy of application along with its supporting to the caveator at his expense henceforth.
(5) The caveat led by the caveator shall be valid for 90 days from the lodging of the caveat
unless the application referred to in sub-section (1) has been made before the expiry of the said
period.]
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 The main ingredient, which explains how to le the
caveat, in the section stated above are:
• Who is the right person to le caveat?
• A person who claims the right to be present before the court irrespective of the person
being a party to the suit or not. This is substantive in nature as even a third party to the
suit but not a stranger to the suit can le the caveat, if it has the right to appear before the
court. The Court has opined in the matter of Kattil Vayalil Parkkum Koiloth v. Mannil
Paadikayil Kadeesa Umma that a complete stranger to the suit or proceedings cannot le
the petition of Caveat.
• A person who claims the right to appear before the court in the case, any application is
expected/has been made before the court.
• In any of the suits or proceedings which has been/about to be instituted before the Court,
a person claiming the right to appear can le the Caveat.
• It is important for a person who lodged the caveat to serve the notice on the person
against whom the application has been made.
• The court shall be serving a notice to the Caveator regarding the application. This is a
Mandatory clause in nature
• The applicant shall serve the copy of the application, copies of any paper, documents etc
to the Caveator at his expense, in case notice is served upon the applicant by the court. It
is a directive clause in nature.
• The Caveat which has been lodged by the Caveator shall remain in force for 90 days,
however, in case the application has already been led or already exist before the expiry
of 90 days, then this clause shall not be e ective.

Where can a Caveator lodge the Caveat?

Whenever a person foresees that any legal suit or proceedings are going to be led against
him, he can lodge a caveat petition in any of the civil courts including small court, tribunals etc.
subject to it having original jurisdiction or any of the appellate court. It is important to note that
Section 148A of CPC applies only to the civil proceedings, it cannot be applied for criminal
proceedings or any of the petitions led under article 226 of the Constitution of India as
explained by the Court in the case of Deepak Khosla v. Union of India & Ors.
In the above-mentioned case, the petitioner led a complaint against certain persons claiming
that those persons had committed the o ence u/s 120B, 409, 477A under Indian Penal Code.
However, the Investigation O cer submitted a cancellation report after nding no o ence
against those persons. Petitioner led the case before the Additional Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate. ACMM, after nding prima facie o ence, did not accept the cancellation report.
Further ACMM, directed to summon the accused person u/s 204 of CrPC.
Petitioner was happy. However, he was afraid that accused persons who were summoned by
ACMM may le the petition u/s 482 of CrPC or Article 227 of the Constitution of India and may
seek and get the ex-parte interim order. Hence, the petitioner wants to put Caveat on them.
Therefore, petitioner lodged a Caveat Petition u/s 148A read with sec 151 of CPC mentioning
that any such petition by accused shall not be listed by Court without giving 5 days’ notice to
Caveator and no ex – parte order shall be passed without giving notice to the petitioner which
was challenged by registry mentioning that the Caveat petition led in CPC cannot be
entertained in the criminal proceedings. Accordingly, the petition was dismissed in absence of
any provision for Caveat in Cr.P.C.
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What if the Court or Applicant does not give notice to
Caveator?
It is important to note that in case, Court or the applicant does not give the notice to the
Caveator who has led the Caveat petition, the order or decree which has been passed without
giving the notice becomes null and void.

Filing of the Caveat and Documents requirement

1. Caveat Petition shall be signed by the Caveator. However, in case an advocate is
representing the Caveator, it can be signed by the advocate as well, in such case,
Vakalatnama should be accompanied.
2. The Caveat which has been presented before the Court shall be registered in the Caveat
register in the form of a suit or proceeding or any other form as prescribed. The Caveat
Register includes the number of proceedings and date, which is maintained by the
Court.
3. It is mandatory to le the Caveat to the Court along with the copy of the application,
dispatch proof and explanation to the Court that a duplicate copy of the Caveat petition
has already been dispatched to the parties to the suit.
4. Generally, a Court fee of Rs 100 is charged to lodge a Caveat. It may di er for di erent
Courts; however, the similar procedure and formats are being followed by all the Courts.

However, it is important to note that while ling a Caveat Petition to the High Court, the
following steps shall be taken care of:
1. Every petition shall be supported by an a davit which shall be signed by the caveator
along with the petition.
2. A vakalatnama, a proof of the dispatch of the notice of caveat to the other party, any
order which has been challenged, shall be submitted to the court along with the other
mandatory documents.

A caveat/Notice which is given by the Caveator to the Court shall have the below-mentioned
information:
1. Name and Address of the Caveator so that notice/information can be sent by the Court to
the Caveator
2. Court name where Caveat is led.
3. No. of Appeal or suit, if any.
4. Information regarding suit or appeal which is anticipated to be led.
5. Names and details of the Plainti or respondent or any applicant who may le the suit or
appeal.

Following is the format to le the Caveat in the Delhi High Court:

h t t p : / / w w w. d e l h i h i g h c o u r t . n i c . i n / w r i t e re a d d a t a / u p l o a d / D o w n l o a d s /
DownloadFile_KUD67PSJ.PDF
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 Conclusion
In order to conclude or summarize, a petition led by Caveator is precautionary in nature which
is led by the people which can foresee that some case is going to be led in the court against
him and if any order is passed without taking his view into consideration, then his interest can
be su ered. In case, any application within a time frame of 90 days of ling the caveat, then it
is mandatory to the court to serve the notice to the caveator informing him about such
application, in the absence of which, the order passed by a court shall become null and void.
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