Holding

A notice under Section 80 CPC that substantially fulfills its object is valid for the heirs, and no fresh notice is required.

Summary

The plaintiff's father, Seth Lachhman Dass Gupta, had a contract with the Government for supplying charcoal and, due to a price escalation clause, served a notice under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) demanding the higher price. He died before filing a suit, and his three sons filed the suit as his legal heirs. The Government contended that the notice was invalid for the heirs because it was not served by them, and thus the suit was non‑maintainable. The Supreme Court held that the notice substantially complied with Section 80, satisfying the requirement of informing the Government of the claim and enabling it to respond, and that the identity of the person giving the notice with the plaintiff was satisfied despite the father's death. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the High Court judgment set aside, and the decree of the Civil Judge restored with interest.

Issues considered

Whether a notice under Section 80 CPC served by a deceased contractor is valid for the benefit of his legal heirs.
Whether a fresh notice is required when the original notice was served by the deceased.
Whether the requirement of identity of the plaintiff in the notice can be satisfied by substantial compliance.

Legislation cited

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s. 80
Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1976s. 80(1), s. 80(2), s. 80(3)

Subjects

Section 80 CPCnotice to governmentsubstantial compliancecontract escalation clauseheirslimitation periodprocedural lawgovernment liability

Judgment

•

)· • 229
GHANSHYAM OASS ANO OTHERS A

v. •
•
DOMlNION <:1F INDIA AND OTHERS
B
March 20, 1984 -

[D.A. l>ESAI, A.P. SEN AND V. BALAKRISHNA ERADI,'.JJ.] ,

Contract with Government and claims arisillg therefrom-Contractor issues
notice to Gove,rnment under section 80 C.P.C. (before the amendment in· 1976) c
hut dles before the insti~t!on of the suit-The legal representatives of the contrac-
tor institutes the suit on the basis of the notice issued by the contractor-Whether a·
fresh notice under section 80, C.P.C. is necessary and for want of such_ a fresh
notice the· suit itself ii not maintainable-Code of Civil Procedure (Act Vof 1908)
section 80 (as is stood before the Amendment Act of 1976), Scope of.

D
The plaintiff's father Seth Lachhman Dass Gupta entered into a contract
with the Governor General-in-Council for the suppJy of CharcoaJ tO the Military
Supply Depot, Agra and received payments for the same at the contractual rate
froln time to time. Tfi.e contract contained an escalation clause viz. cl. 8 to the
*' effect 1hat in case the Price of charcoal was increased bY more than 10% of the
stipulated rate during the subsistence of the co·ntract', the contractor would be
entitled to the price at the higher rate. During the periOd of..pie contract, the E
rate of charcoal went up continuously. The military aul!'"orities paid at the
enq,anced rate for the part of supplies w.hi!C for the rest they refused to· pay more
than the contractual rate. He accordingly set.ied a notice to the Government
under s. 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 J!laking a claim for payment of
a sum of Rs. 20, 119.so p. in terms of clause 8 of the contract beint1 the dill'erence
between the enhanted rate and the contractual rate for the supplies paid 'for.
1 But before.he could bring tl).e si.Iit against tbe Government," he died. Thereupon_, F
the respondents brought a suit as his legal heirs and successo1s.claiming the
amount. ,the defendants contested the claim inter alia on 'the ground that the
notice given by Seth Lachhman Dass could not eoure for the benefit of the plain·
tiff's ~nd. therefore the suit was bad for want of notice under s. 80 of the Code.
The Court of first inftance held that no further notice under s. 80 was necessary
as the notice served by the plaintiff's father Seth Lachhman Dass must enure to
their benefit. G

On appeal, the High Court reversed his decision on the point and held that
the notice given by the plaintiff's father was insufficient and wns not a valid
notice under s. 80 of the Code insofar as the plaintiff'• were concerned. Against
the judgment, the plaintiff's preferred an appeal by special leave.
H
Allowing the appoal, th• Court
•
~30 • SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1984} 3 s. C.R. ·,,(
A HELD : 1. The question as·· to ... whether a, notice under s. 80 is valid or
not is a question of judicial construction. S. 8Q of the Code is but a part of the
Procedure Code passed to pro't'ide the regulation and machinery, by - means of
wblbh the. courts may do justice between the parties. It is therefore merely a
• part of the adjective law and deals. with procidure alone and must be interpreted
in a manner so as_ ~o subserve and advag.ce the cause of justice rather than to
defCat it. As far as possible, no Proceedings in a court of law should be aUowed
B to -be defeated on mere technicalities. This is the principle oil -which OQ.rs laws
of procedure are based. [238A, 239G·H, 240A-CJ

2. The whole object of serving a notice. under s. 80 is to give the Govern-
ment Sufficient warning of the case which is going to be insti~ted against it' and
• that the GOvemment, if it so wished ca.n settle the claim without litigation or
afford restitution without recourse to a court of law. Though the terms of s. 80
c . have to. be strictly complied with, thai does not mean that the notice should be
scrutinised in a pedantic manner di.vorced from COlJlmon sense. The point to be
con1idere'd is whether the notice gives suffiCient information as to the nature Or
the claim such as would enable the recipient to avert the litigation. If the notice
substantially fulfills its work of intimating the parties concerned generally of the y..,
nature of the suit intended to be filed, it would be sufficient compliance of the
. section. ·While interpreting ttie pfe.. amended Section the courts must have due
D regatd to the change in. law brought about by sub·s. (3) of s. 80, which shows
legislative acceptance of the rule of substantial compliance instead of strict
compliarice. [240D·E, 242C.E]

Sangram Singh v. Election Tribunal, Kotah relied· on •..
•
3. In the present case the requirement of s. 80 that there inust be identity I
between t~use of RC?tion ·and the ielief claimed in the notice as well as in the ~·-
plaint, is fulfilled. A• resards the requirement of identity of the person who
issues the notice with the ycrson who brings the suit, in this case the notice
contained the name of the original claimant i.e. the father of the plaintiffs. The
notice reached the concerned department of the Government where the· Govern..
ment bad opportunity to examine the nature of the claim and decide whethi:r it
F should accept or contest the claim. The conce_rnCd Government authorities
l
served a J:eply on the plaintiff'; father that his claim was not acceptable. There...
after he died and his right to file the suit for enforcement of the claim having
devolved upon his heirs i.e. the plaintiff's·, the plaintiffs filed the suit for enforce.. .{_~
ment of the same claim: In the circumstances, . if s. 80 is held to ha"Ve '""
not been compliCd With, as done by the Hiah Court, great injustice would ·_be
done to the plaintiffs in the matter of filiD.g suits to the Government inasmuch
G as in case-of insistence on fresh notice, the period of limitation to file the suit
would expire in the meantime. Such a situation is not intended b;t the Code.
Thus the requirement of s. 80 was clearly fulfilled in this case but the High
Court having allowed the technical plea of the defendants, the plaintiffs have
been deprived of their legitimate claim for at least 35 years.
[238D·H, 239A-C, 240G·H],..- -
'-
ff S.N. Dutt v. Union of India, (1962] 1 $.C.R. 560; Mahadev Dattatraya
Rajshri v. Secretary· of State for India, [1930] 32 Botn. L.R. 604; and. Bachchu
Singh v. Secretary of State for India in Cuoncll; [1902) 25 I.L.R. 1.87, overruled.
•
clii-NsmAM v. ooMINroN oF rnn1A.(Sen, J.)
·, . . • ; I'

Raglzu~th Dass V. Unio,;-of India, (1969} I S.c.R: 450; Union of Iridia v. A
Jee'wan -Rilm A.I.R. i958. S._C. 905; State Of Madras v. C.P. Agencies~ A.I.R. "
1960. S.C. 1309 and· Amar Nath ,Gogra v. Union.of India, [19~4] I S.C.R. 651,
-affirmed.

Bh{igchand rac'adusa v. Secretary of State for.India in CounCi/, '[19211 I.A:
· 338; / T./-. t·r,-C"J~" ~hettiar v. Governmeitt of the. Provif:ce of Jfadras [1947] ·-
I.A. 7f: and Govern;,,en1 of the Provi~ce of Bombay v. Pestonji Ardeshir Wadia - B
(1949] 76 I.A. 57; referred to. ' · · · ·

L
I 1971.
C1ViL. APPELLATE JUR!SDICTrON: Civil' Apperu No. 82 of

',.
' · From Judgment and Decree dated 26.2.65 of Allahabad· High. · ·c .
Court in first appeal Nn. 457 of 1952. ' . .

J.P. Goyal and S.K. Jain for the appellants.·

V.C. Mahajan and A. Subhashini for the ~espondents.
D
· The Judgement of the Court was ,delivered by ·
' .

SEN, ·J. This appeal on certificate brought from .the judgment
and decree of the Allahabad High Court dated·February 26, 1965
reversing the judgment .·and· decree of the Civil Judge, Agra dated
August 25,. 1952 and dismissing the plaintiff~' suit for recovery of E
Rs. 26,000 raises , a question of some importance upon s.80' of the
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. · . · , · · · ·

The facts giving rise.to this appeal may be shortly ~tated. On .
,November 12, 1949, the plaintiffs Ghanshyam Dass .and his two ' .
• minor. brothers Shree Ram and Mohan Lal brougat the suit out' of · F
which this ~ppeal arises; in the. Court of the .Civil Judge, Agra for.
recovery of a sum of Rs. 26,000 ·against the Dominion of India .
. through the Defence Secretary, New Delhi. . It was' pleaded that ·. .
their late father Seth Lachman Dass Gupta entered into a contract •·
with the• Governor General-in-Council for the supply of charcoal ,
to the Military Supply Depot at Agra during· the period from'
April I, 1943. to March 31, 1944. In pursuance thereof, lie made
.. necessary supplies and• received payments for the same at· the con-· .
tractual rates from time to time. •It was pleade<I that the contract - . ·
contained an escalation clause viz: clause 8, to the· effect that in case ·
the price of charcoal increased by more than iO% of the ~tipulated · H
rate during the subsistence or'the contract, the contractor would be .
entitled to the· price at the higher rate,' It was alleged that from
sUPRllME COURT REPORTS [1984] 3 s.a.il.
J., lhe date of-the Contract, the rate of charcoal went up continuously
to 44.8% in July, August and September 1943, 93.1% in October,
November and December 1943 and 82.7% in January, February
and March 1944. Accordingly Seth Lachman Dass made a demand
for payment of price at the increased rate. The military authorities
paid at the enhanced rate for par~ of the supplies while for the -
B rest they refused to pay at more than the contractual rate. Seth
Lachman Dass served a notice Ex. A-8 on tb,e Dominion of Jfdia
through the Defence Secretary under s.80 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908. It appears tliat before his death,' on or about
September 15, 1948 he received a letter from the military.author-
ties rejecting his claim fo.r payments at the enhanced rate but be-
. c fore he could institute any suit he died on October 28, 1949. -
.'ifhereafter, on November 12, 1949 the plaintiffs who are his three
sons, brought the suit as his legal heirs and successors claiming the
amount. The defendants contested the claim inter a/ia on the ·
ground that the notice Ex. A-8 given by Seth Lachman Dass could
nofenure for the benefit of the plaintiffs and therefore the suit was
D bad for want of a notice "under s.80 of the Code. The learned
Civil Judge, however, held that no further notice under s.80 was
necessary as the notice Ex. A-8 served by the plaintiffs father Seth
Lachman Dass must enure for their benefit. He found that the
plaintiffs were entitled in terms of clause 8 of the contract to
E receive a sum of Rs. ·20,?lO.SOp. being the difference between the
enhanced rate and the contractual rate for the supplies paid for and
accordingly decreed the plaintiffs' claim to that extent. But on
appeal the High Court, his defision on the pointlwas reversed upon
the .view that the notice Ex. A~8 .given by the plaintiffs' father was
insufficient and was not a valid notice under s.80 of the Code of
Civil Procedure insofar as the plaintiffs were concerned.

The short question involved in this appeal is whether the
notice Bx. A-8 given by the iplaintiffs' father Seth Lach man Dass
Gupta before his death under s.80 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
G 1908 would enure for the benefit of'the plaintiffs.

Section 80 of. the Code as it stood on the gate of the institu·
tion or 'the suit, insofar as material, is reproduced below :

"80~ l'{ptice: No suit ·shall be instituted against (the
H
Government) or against a public officer in respect of any act
purporting to . be done ~ such public officer in his official
GHA.NSflYAM v. DOMINION OF INDIA, (Sen, J.) 233
)

capacity, until the expiration of two months next after notice A
in writing has been delivered to, or left at the office of-
•
(a). in the case of suit against the Central Government
.. ............ a Secretary to that Government ;

••• ••• ••• ••• B
' .
and, in the case of a public officer, delivered to him or left
at his office, stating the cause of action, the name, description
and place of residence of the plailltiff and the relief which he
claims ; and the plaint shall contain a statement that such C
notice has been so delivered or left."

In the celebrated case of Bhagchand Dagadusa & .Ors. v.
Secretary of $tate for India in Council & Ors 1., the Judicial
Committee of. the Privy Council held that this section is express,
· explicit an mandatory and it admits of no implications or exceptions. D
The words of Viscount Sumner delivering the judgment of the Privy
Council have become classical :
.
. ''Section 80 is express·, explicit and mandatory, and it
' admits of. implications or exceptions. Asuit in which' (inter
) alia) an injunction is prayed still "a suit'' within the words
of the section, and to read any qualification into it is an
if:. E

encroachment on the function of legislation. Considering how
. long these and similar words have been read throughout most
of the Courts in India in their literal sense, it is reasonable to
suppose that the section has not been found to work injustice.
l • but, if this is not so, it is a matter to be rectified by an amend- F
ing Act.':

f The Privy Council rejected the contention put forward before
them that the section deals with mere procedure and held that the
i requirements of s.80 are to be· strictly complied with and are appli- G
f cable to all forms of action and all kinds of relief. It further held
I . that s.80 imposes a statutory and unqualified obligation upon the
f Court and in .the absence of compliance with s.80, the suit was not
I maintainable, either as to the declaration sought or injunction pray-
...---.,::
,--. / I ed for.
H

(I) (1927] 54 I.A. 338.
234 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1984] 3. s.c.il..
• A.
'A Earljer, in-~ome cases, a liberal construction was put upon the
section and it was held that a notice is sufficient ifit substantially fulfils
its objection in informing the parties concerned of the nature of the suit
to be filed, and that a notice is not invalid merely because it .is given
by two out offhree plaintiffs. But since the Privy Council judgment
in Bhagchand's case, supra, strict compliance with the . terms of
B s.80 has been enforced a.nd a notice · given by one. of two plaintiffs
has been held to be insufficient. Again, in a case where the plain-
tiffs' father gave notice. and then plaintiffs filed a. suit after the ' l

father's death, the notice· given by·ihe father in respect of the same
cause of action was held insfficient :Mahadev Dattatraya Rajarshi v.
c Secretary of Swe for India1 following Buchan Si~gh v. Secretary of
State.•

It is plain from the terms of s.81) that the notice inust fulfil the
req]Ji.rements set out therein., It is essential th.at the notice must
state the names, descriptions· and places of residence of all the
D plaintiffs. A notice must be such as. to enable the addresse or the '
recipient to indentify the claimant. In Val/ayan Chettiar·& Ors. v.
The Government of the Province of Madras & Anr'. Lord Simo.nds
delivering the jildgment of the Privy Council referred to the observa·
tions of Lord Sumner in Bhagchand's case that s.80 is explicit and.
mandatory ·and admits of l\O implications or exemptions, and
.observed that :

"There should be identity of ihe person who issues the
notice and who brings the suit. To hold ·otherwise would be
to admit an implication·' or exception for which there is no
F justification."

There, the question was whether a suit brought by two plain-
tiffs was competent when notice .under s.8.0 was given by only one
of them. Tile Privy Council. having regard to the mandatory
requirements of .s.80 of the Code held that there was no valid notice
G and aotordingly upheld the judgment of the High Court dismissing
.. the plaintiff's suit. So also in Governmeni of the Province Bombay
v. Pestonji Ardeshir Wadia. & Ors.,• the Privy Council reiterated the
same principles where no notice had been served under s.80 specify-

(I) (1930) 32 Bom.L.R. 604.
H (2) !LR (1902) 25 All. J87.
(3) [1947] 74 I.A. 223.
(4) [1949] 76 I.A. S1 .

•
. .. .
•....· GitANSNYM! v. DOMINION OF INriL\ (Sen, J.) . 235
: -- t • • - ' • i

ing t11c n3mos and· addresses of all the trustees and thertfore the .A
p:·cyisions of the section· had not ·been complied with· and it was
ac.;urdingly held that the suit was incompetent.... ··
. . :.
. .
.
.
- .
' ., .
..
.
.
. '

As to the requirement tha.t the notice .must state the cause of .
..

action and the reliefs,· Claimed, there is a large ·body of decisions·
•. laying .down• that a notice under the ·section should be heid to be .B
. sufficient if it substantially fulfils its object in informing the partjes.
concerned ofthe nature of the suit to be filed. In consonance with
.- . this. view, this Court in Dhian Singh Sabha Singh & Anr, v." Union of
. India,1 Union of India v. Jeewan .Ram', State. of Madras v. C.P. ·
Ageni:ies' and Amar· Nath v.
Unio~ ·of India' has· held that though c
the terms ofthe section have io be . sfrictly complied with, that does
., · not mean that ihe D.otice shou.ld be scrlltinized ill 'a pedantic manner ,
oi in a manner divorced from common sense. On this principle, it has.
been held. thafnotice. which states the cause of action and the relie.fs
described in the annexed copy' of the ptaint (which forms part of the .
notice) 'though defective _in form, complies substantially with the D
section. The point to be CO!lsidered is whether the notic.e gives suffi- ·
eient information as to the nature of the claim· such as ~ould.enable
the recipient to avert the litigation. The relevant passage from the
judgment· in Dhain Singh Sabha. Singh' s ·case, supra, is set' out
below:
..
. "We are constrained to observe that the approacb of
.the. ~igh Court to this que~tion "."a~ not .·well founded. The
Privy Council no doubt -fa:.d down m Bhagchand Dagadusa v.
Secretaty of· State (1927) LR. 54 LA 338) that the terms of ·
this section should be strictly ·complied with. That does not p
however mean that the terms of the notice should be scrutini- •
zed in a pedantic manner or in a manner completely divorced
from. common sense: As was stated by_ Pollock· C.B .. in ,
-. Jones v. Nicholls (1844) 153 E.R. 149 "We must import a
. little common sense into notices of this 'kind." Beaumont
. C.J: also obse~ed in Chandu Lal Vadilal v. Gov~rnment of G
Bombay, ILR (1943) Born. 128 "One must construe sectio~ "so
with some regard to common . sense and to the object with
which it appears to have been passed "

, (1) [1958] SCR 781.
-
..
'.
(2) AIR 1958 SC 905.
(3) AIR 1960 SC 1309.
(4) [1964] l SCR 657.
I ,.
,1-
•
SUPREME co\JR r REPoR rs r1p84j 3 s.c.il.
The question as to whether notice under s.80 was invalid for
want of identity .of, the plaihtiffs ,Pirectly arose in the case of S.N.
Datt v. {Inion of India'. There, a no)ice was served by the appellant
who wa.s the sole proprietor of a business styled S.N. Dutt & Co.,
(iu the name of S:N. Dutt & Co.) and thereafter he filed a snit
against the Union ofindia describing t11e. plaintiff as "Surendra Nath
Dutt sole proprietor of a business carried on under the name and style
ofS.N. Ontt & Co.". This Co1utupheld the decision ofthe Calcutta
High Court dismis_sing the plaintiff's suit holding that the person who
issued the notice was not the same as the person who filed the suit.
The contentiol\ that the appellant was carrying on business nnder an
c assumed name arid therefore the notice was valid as S.N. Dutt & Co.
~as merely the name and style of the business which he was carrying
on, was rejected. The Court held that since no snit could be filed by
$.N. Dutt & Co. in that name as it was not a partnership firm, it
could not give a valid and legal notice in that name, and a valid
notice could only be given in the name of S.N. Dutt. The decision
merely reiterates the t\ile laid down by this Court in Bhagchand that
"section · 80, according to its plain meaning, requires that there
.. should be identity of the person who gives the notice with the person
:-\'ho · brings the · suit". The Court distinguished the decisions in '
Dhian Singh Sobha Singh and C.P. Agencies on the ground that the
Court was dealing with defect in describing the cause of action and
E the relief claimed and where it concerns the relief and the cause of
action, it may be necessary to use common sense to find out
whether s.80 of the Code has beeri complied with, and stated :
'
"But where. it ·is a question of the name of the plain-
tiff, there is in our opinion (little scope for the use of common
sense,) for either the name of the person suing is there in the l
notice or if is not. No amount of common sense will put the
name of the plaintiff there, if it is not there."

In the case of Raghunath Dass. v Union of India & · Anr.• the
G same question arose but the Court struck a discordant note there.
There, the notice emanated from M/s Raghunath Dass Mulkhraj
and in the body of the notice at several places the expression "we"
was used. Further, the plaintiff had purported to sign for M/s
Raghunath Dass.Mulkhraj but at the same time he signed the notice
as proprietor of M/ s Raghunath Dass Mulkhraj. The Court held
Ii
'(!) [1962) I SyR 5§0.
<2> [19691 t s;c.R. 450
•
GHANSHYAM v. DOMINION OF INDIA (Sen, J.) 237

that that was a clear indication of the fact that M/s Raghunath A.
Dass Mulkhraj was a proprietary concern and the plaintiffs was its
proprietor. In repelling the contention kthat there was no identity
of the person who gave the notice with the person who filed the suit
the Court observed :

"Whatever doubts that might, have been possibly creat-
ed in the mind of the recipient of the notice, after going
through the bocly of the notice as to the identity of the would
be plaintiff, the same would have been resolved after going
through the notice as a whole."

There, the plaintiff had averred in the plaint that he was carry- c
ing on his business under an assumed name and style of M/s
Raghunath Dass' Mulkhraj meaning thereby that the concern was a
proprietary concern and that the name given to it was only a trade
name. He had also stated ip the plaint that he had given a notice
- -<
under s.80 of the Civil Procedure Code. In the written statement
D
filed on behalf of the Dominion of India, the validity of the notice
issued was not challenged. Regarding the hotice in question there
was only an averinent in the written statement that suit was barred
by s.80 of.the Code as no nolice under that section appears to have
been served on the Administration. Ii:i repelling the contention that

•
the suit was bad for want of notice under s.80 of the Code, the E
Court said:

"The object of the notice contemplated by that section
is to give to the concerned Governments and public officers
opportunity to reconsider the legal position and to make
amends or settle the claim, if so advised without litigation. F
The legislative intention behind that section in onr opinion
is that public money and time should not be wasted on un-
necessary litigation and the Government and the public officers
should be given a reasonable opport!Pity to examine the
claim made against them lest they should be drawn into
avoidable litigations. The purpose of law is .advanceme.nt of
G . ,.
justice. The provisions in s.80, Civil Procedure Code are not
intended to be used as boo'\Jytraps against ignorant and
illiterate persons. In this case we are concerned with a
narrow question. Has the person mentioned in the notice ~s
" plaintiff brought the present suit or is he someone else ? T1:is H
qu~stion has to be decided by reading the notice as a whole m
11 reasonable mannef,"
138 SUPREME COUltT REPORTS [1984] 3 S.C.R.
A ··, · In the ultimate analysis, the· question as to whether a ncJtlae
undeu.80 of the Code is valid or not is a question of judicial con·
struction. The Privy Council and this Court have applied the rule
of strict compliance in dealing with the. question of identity of the·
person who issues the notice with the person
' .
who brings. ,
the suit. This .
Court has 4:iowever adopted the rule of substantial compliance in
B ·· deali!Jg with the requirement that there must be identity between the·
cause of action and the reliefs claimed in the notice as well as in the
plaint. As already stated, the Court has held that notice under this sec- •. (

tion should be held to be sufficient if it substantially fulfils its object of
informing t.he parties concerned of the nature of the suit to be filed.
c . On this principle, it has been held that though the terms of the
section have .to be strictly complied with, that does not mean that
the notice should be scrutinized in a pedantic manner divorced.
from common sense. The point to be considered is whether the
notice gives sufficient information as to the natur.e of the claim such
D as ·would the recipient to avert the litigation.

Jn ·the present case, in the notice Ex. A·8 the ·name, descrip-
tion and place of residence of the plaintiff Seth Lachman Dass, the
father of the plaintiffs, was given but unfortunatory before filing the
suit he died and thereafter within the period of limitation the
E suit was instituted by his sons on the basis of the said notice. The
· notice Ex. A-8 undoubtedly fulfils the requirement of s.80 insofar as
the cause of action and the ~elief claimed are concerned as· they are
absolutely the same as set out in the plaint: As stated in• Dhian Singh
Sabha Singh, the notice must substantially fulfil its work of intima-
ting the parties con~erned generally of the nature of the suit intended
to be filed and if it does sq, it would be sufficient compliance of the
section. as to the requirement that it should state the name, descrip- l
tibn and place of residence of the plaintiff, there must be identity '-"
of the person who issues the notice with the person who brings the
suit
_Now . so far as the name and description of the plaintiff are
concerned, the notice gives the name as Seth Lachman Dass Gupta.
The·notice Ex. A-8 duly,reached the cuncerned department and they
dealt with the notice. It is not that the Government had no
.. opportunity to examine the nature of the claim and decide whether
its should accept or contest the. claim. The military authorities
·-served a reply on Seth Lachman Dass before his death that his claim
H
,was not acceptable. There was no other alternative for Seth Lachman
pass but to have brought a suit for the enfor~~ment of his claim,
...
GHANSHYAM v. OOMINioN OF INDiA (Sen, J,) 239
.) If he· could not file a suit due to his death, his right to file the suit A
devolved upon his heirs i.e. the plaintiffs. If the view taken by the
High Court is allowed ~o stand, great injustice would be done to
the litigants in the matter of filing suits against the Government. If

.
fresh notice is insisted upon in such cases, the period of limitation

I
to file a suit may expire in the meantime. Such & situation is not
B
•. intended by the Code.

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The authorities relied upon by the High Court in nonsuiting
the plaintiffs are of ancient vintage. In Mahadev Dattatraya Rajarshi's
case, supra, the Bombay High Court relying upon the decision of
the Allahabad High Court in Buchan Singh, held that the language c
.()f s.424 of the Code of 1882, the predecessor of s.80 of the
present Code which was substantially in the same terms, was impera"
tive and absolutely debarred the Courts from entertaining a suit with-
out complying. with the provisions of the section. In Buchan Sing h's
~ '-< case, supra it was obser;ved by the Allahabad High Court at p.191:
D
"If we acceded to this contention, it appears to us that
we should be adding words to s.424 which find no place in it.
It would be necessary to add after the words "name and
place of abode of the intending plaintiff" some such words as
"or of the party through whom such intending plaintiff
claims." E
·~
' The Court of first instance here tried to distinguish the decision
in Buchan Singh .on the ground that.the word "intending" appearing
in s.424 of the 1882 Code had. been omitted from s.80 of the present
Code, and therefore the word "plaintiff" should be construed in a
generic sense. The High Court however following the decision of F
! the Bombay High Court in Mahadev Dattaraya Rajarshi held that. the
,1..
notice must contain the name of the actpal plaintiff who could bring
"" the. suit_ adding that "the notice must be given by .the person who
becomes the piaintiff and by no other''. We are afraid, that is tak-
ing too technical a view of the matter: G

S.80 of the Code is but a part of the Procedure Code passed to
provide the regulation and machinery, by means of which the Courts
may do justice between the parties. It is therefore merely a part of
)'\ the adjective law and deals with procedure alone and must be inter- H
preted in a , manner so as to subserve and advance the cause of
justice rather th<in to defeat it. In San1vam Sin~h v. Election Trih«·
240 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ' (1984] 3 S.C.R. ,
'
nal, Kotai'1 & Anr'., Vivian Bose, J. in tis illuminating language deal-
ing with the Code ot' Civil Procedure said : •

"It is procedure, something designed to faciliate.justice
and further its ends: not a penal enactment for punishment·
and penalties; not a thing designed. to trip people up. Too
B technical !l construction of sections that leaves no room for
reasonable elasticity of interpretation should therefore be
guarded against (provided always that justice is done to both .( f
sides) lest the very means designed for tire furtherance of
justice be used to. frustrate it.
c
Our laws of procedure are based on the principle that "as far
as possible, no proceeding in a court of law should be allowed to
be defeated on mere technicalities". Jlere, all the requirements of
s.80 of the Code were fulfiled. Before the suit was brought, the
Dominion of India received a notice of claim f1:om Seth Lachman
'' Dass. The wpole object of serving a notice under s.80 is to give the
Government sufficient warning of the case which is going to be
institued againsHt was that the Government, if it so wished, settle the'
claim without litigation or afford restitution without recourse to a ·'
court of law. That requirement ofs.80 was clearly· fulfilled in the
I,:, . of the present case. . ·
facts and circumstances

It is a matter 9f common experience that in a large majority
of: cases the'Government or the public officer .concerned make no use
of the opportunity afforded by the section. In most cases the
notice given under s.80 remains unanswered till the expiration of
F ; two months provided by the section. It is also clear that in a large
number of cases. as here, the Government or the public officer
utili~ed the section merely ·to raise technical defences contending
"either that no notice had' been •given or that the notice actually
given did not comply with the requirements of the &ection. It is
unfortunate that the defendants came forward with a technical plea
G. ·that the suit was not maintainable at the instance of the plaintiffs,
the legal heirs of Seth Lachman Dasi! ·on the ground that no fresh
notice had been given by them. This was obviously a technical plea
calculated to defeat the just claim. Unfortunately, the technical plea
so raised prevailed with the High Court with the result that the plain-
' tiffs have been deprived of their legitimate dues for the last 35 years ..
H

\l)i[l955]J2]S.C.R.l l.
I-
ditANSHYA.M v, DOMINION OF INDIA (Sen, i.) 241
The Law Commission in the Fourteenth Report, volume 1 on A
the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 at p.475 made a recommenda-
tion that s.80. of the Code should be deleted. It was stated as
follows :

"The evidence disclosed t!Jat in a large majority of

l l >
cases, the Gov~rnm:ent or the public officer made no use of
the opportunity afforded by the section. Jn most cases the
notice given under section 80 remained unanswered till the
'expiry of the period of two months provided by th<;. section.
B

It was also clear that in a large number of cases, Governments
and public officers utilized the section merely to raise techni-
cal defences contending either that no notice had been given or
c
that the notice actually given did not comply with the require-
ments of the section. These technical defences appeared . to
have succeeded in a number of cases defeating the just claims
of the citizens." ·
D
Tile Law Commissio.n in the Twenty· Seventh Report on the
Code at pp;2l-22 reiterated its earlier recommendation for deletion.of
s.80 and in the Fifty-Fourth Report at p.56 fully concurred with the
r recommendatiorrmade earlier. In conformity with the recommenda-.
tion of the Law ·Commission, s.80 bas undergone substantial
changes. By s.27 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, E
1976 whieh was brought into effect from February 1, 1977, the
existing s.80 qas been re-numbered as s,80(1) and sub-ss.(2) and (3)
have been inserted. Sub-s.(2) as inserted has been designed to give •
. an nrgent and immediate r~lief against the Government or the
public officer with' the leave of the Court. But the Court shall not '
grant relief in the suit, whether interim or otherwise, except after F
giving to the Government or public officer, as the case may be, a
reasonable opportunity of showing cause in respect of the relief
prayed for in the suit .. Proviso to S\lb:s(2) enjoins that the Court
shall, if it is satisfied, after hearing the parties that no urgent or
immediate relief need be granted in the suit, return the· plaint for
G
presentation to it after complying with the requireme.nts of sub-s.(1).

Sub-s.(3) as inserted by s.27 of the Code of .Civil Proceddre
(Amendment) Act, 197b reads as follows :

"80(3). No suif instituted ag.;.nst the Government or u·
against a public officer in respect of 11ny act purporting to be
done by such public officer
. . be
in his official capacity shall
242 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1984) 3 S.C.lt

A
· dismissed merely by reason of, ~ny error · or defect in the
notice referred to in sub-section (I) if irt s~ch notice-

(a) the name, description and the residence of the
plaintiff had been so given as to enable the appropriate
. authority or the public officer to identify the person ~erv
B ing the notice and such notice had been delivered or left
at the office of the appropriate authority specified in sub-
section (!), and
,)
(bJ the cause of action and the relief claimed by the
plaintiff had been beeri substaniially indicated,"
..
c
By sub·s.(3), Parliajllent has brought in the rule of substantial
. c~mpliance. The present suit would be directly covered by sub-s.(3)
of s.80 so inti:oduced if the suit had been brought :after February
1,11977, Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, s.97 of the Amendment
Act provides that the amendment shall not apply to pending suit and
D the suits pending on February I, .1977 liave to be dealt as if such
amendment had not been made. Nevertheless the Courts must ••
. have due regard· to the change in law brought about .by sub-s.(3}
of s.80 of the .Code introduced .by the Amendment Act w.e.f.
February l, 1977. Such a change has a legislative acceptance of
E the rule of substantial compliance laid down by this Court in Dhiati
Singh Sobha Singh and. Raghunath Dass. As observed in Dhian
Singh Sobha Singh's case"supra, ..one must construe s.80 with some
• regard to common sense and to the object with which it appears to
have. been enacted.- The decision in S.N. Dutt v. Union of India's
'case, supra, dues not accord with the view expressed by us and is
therefore overruled.

Before parting with the case we consider it necessary to refer
to one more aspect. It has frequently come to our notice that the
strict construction placed by the Privy Council in Bhagchand' s case,
supra, which was repeatedly reiterated in.subsequent cases, has !eel
G to a peculiar practice in some Courts. Where urgent relief is neceseary
the practice adopted. is to file a suit without notice under s,80 and
obfaih interim relief and ther.eafter to serve a notice, withdraw
the suit and in.stitute a second suit after expiry of the period of th.e
notice. We have to express our strong condemnation ofthis·highly
·H
objectionable practice. We expect that the High Courts will .take
necessary steps to put a stop to such practice.
•
.•
<lHANSHYAM v. DOMINION OF INDIA,(Sen,J,)

The result tberefc>r~is that the appeal su¢c~ds and is allowed. A
The judgmtnt and decree passed by the Allahabad High Court
dated February 26, 1965 are set aside and those of the lear9ed Civil
Judge, Agra dated August 25,. 1252 are restored. with costs-through·
.out. The ·plaintiffs shall be erttitled to further in.teres\ on the
decretal amount at 6% per annum from August 25, 1952, ·the date of B·
-.• '. the decree, pas~ed by the Civil Judge~ Agra; till realization.

S.R · Apf¥al allowed. C

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