CPCDecreeSupreme Court of India

Ghanshyam Dass v Dominion of India

AIR 1984 SC 1004; (1984) 3 SCC 46; 1984 SCR (3) 22919841 min read
The case in brief30-second read
Facts
A contractor served a notice under S.80 on the Government in respect of his claim and died before filing the suit. His legal representatives then sued without giving a fresh notice.
Issue
Whether the suit by the legal representatives was barred because they had not served their own notice under S.80.
Held
The notice given by the deceased enured for the benefit of his legal representatives; no fresh notice was required. S.80 is a rule of procedure meant to give the Government an opportunity to settle the claim, and once that purpose was served the suit was maintainable. The appeal was allowed.
Principle
A notice under S.80 CPC given by a person who dies before suit enures for his legal representatives; S.80 is procedural and must be construed to advance justice
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Facts

  • A contractor served a notice under S.80 on the Government in respect of his claim and died before filing the suit. His legal representatives then sued without giving a fresh notice.

Issue

  1. Whether the suit by the legal representatives was barred because they had not served their own notice under S.80.

Held

  • The notice given by the deceased enured for the benefit of his legal representatives; no fresh notice was required. S.80 is a rule of procedure meant to give the Government an opportunity to settle the claim, and once that purpose was served the suit was maintainable. The appeal was allowed.

Ratio decidendi

The object of S.80 is to give the Government notice of the claim. It is procedural and should be construed to advance justice; a successor who sues on the same cause of action need not repeat a notice already given.

Exam use

How to use it in an answer

Use in S.80 answers to show liberal construction of the notice requirement. Earlier versions of this file described it as a "decree" definition case under S.2(2); that was wrong and the CPC-3.8 citation has been removed.

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Citation

Ghanshyam Dass v Dominion of India AIR 1984 SC 1004; (1984) 3 SCC 46; 1984 SCR (3) 229

Reported: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1304570/. This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.