Purshis /, Praecipe

Two neighbours in Kharghar fight a suit for three years and then, over chai, agree to settle it. The next morning their advocates are asked a simple question by the court clerk: where is the paper? Not a fresh plaint, not an application with long affidavits, just a one-page writing that tells the court what the parties now want. In Mumbai courts that paper is often called a purshis. Its cousin, the praecipe, asks the court office to do a routine act. What do these short papers contain, and why can a careless one cost a client the right to sue again?

In two minutes

A purshis is a short signed written statement addressed to the court recording a step the party wants taken or a fact the party wants noted, such as withdrawal of the suit or a settlement; a praecipe is a short written request to the court office for a routine act, such as issuing process; neither is a pleading, but the step they record has consequences fixed by the Code.

The rest of this chapter

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