The word caveat has been derived from Latin which means beware. It is not defined under the code. Caveat is a caution given by the party to the court for not taking any action or granting any relief in respect to a certain application without giving a notice to the person lodging the caveat, as he/she is interested in raising objection to such action or relief. It a precautionary measure taken by the person lodging the caveat, so that no action is taken against him without his/her knowledge. The person filling the caveat is ‘caveator’. Section 148-A of The Code of Civil Procedure provides for the provision relating to lodging of caveat. Sub-section 1 of Section 148-A deals with who all can apply for caveat and sub-section 2,3,4 deals with the roles and responsibilities of the caveator, the applicant who wants to get an interim order and the court.

Objective of Caveat: There is a two-fold objective of caveat that are:

• It acts as a safeguard for a person against whom an order may be made by the court on application filed by any party of the suit or any proceeding which is about to be instituted. Such person may nit be necessary part of the application but might get affected by the action taken by the court in respect to that application. So, caveat acts as a precautionary measure to provide the person to say his part in front of the court before the court issues an ex-parte order.
• It avoids multiplicity of proceedings. As the person affected by such order will have to file another application to get rid of that order and it increases the workload of the courts. So, it reduces the multiplicity of proceedings and ensures efficient decision in a suit or proceeding.

When can a Caveat be lodged: Caveat is usually lodged after the judgement is made or the order is passed by the court. But in exceptional cases, a caveat may be filed even before the judgement is made or before the passing of order.

Where is Caveat lodged: Caveat can be lodged in any tribunal, any forum, any court of small causes, any commission, any civil court, appellate court, Hight court, and Supreme court.

Caveat is only applicable to the proceeding specified under the code and can be lodged in those proceedings. It cannot be issued in any proceeding relating to Article 226 of the Constitution or in any proceeding relating to execution under CRPC.

Hearing of Caveator: The object behind creating a provision of caveat is to enable a chance for caveator to be heard before any order is passed against him or any ex-parte order is passed in respect to any application filed by a party to a suit, so such hearing is mandatory. So, once a caveat has been filed by the party, a notice must be served to the caveator so that no interim order is passed without giving him/her a chance of being heard.

It cannot be affirmed that the caveator is required to be heard in the hearing of ex-parte proceeding at the initial stage of the proceeding, however the caveator can be heard during the final order hearing. This proportion makes the provision of Section 148-A useless and is against the rules of principles of natural justice. So, when a caveat is granted, it is compulsory for the court to hear the caveator before any decision is taken by the court and before any interim order is made by the court.

Aishwarya Says:

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