Report No. 77

3.5. Rules of pleading in ancient India.-

There were elaborate rules about the contents of the plaint; for example1, plaints concerning immovable property were required to state, inter alia, the country and place (town or village) the situation (boundaries), name of the field and so on. There was to be a written statement to be filed by the defendant in reply to the plaint. The written statement must meet all points of the plaint, must not employ vague words, must not be self-contradictory and so on.2

1. Katyayana, cited by M.K. Sharan Court Procedure in Ancient India, (1978), p. 57 (400 A.D.-600 A.D.).

2. Sukra, IV, 5.139, cited by M.K. Sharan Court Procedure in Ancient India, (1978), p. 57.