LEGAL NOTICE FORMAT AND PROCEDURE

Date : 29 Jun, 2019

Post By Pranjal Jain

Meaning of Legal Notice under Code of Civil Procedure, 1908: A Legal Notice is filed generally in civil cases. There is no filing of the legal notice in a criminal case, as in case of a criminal offense the act is done by the State against the person who commits the offence as the State has supreme power. In case, you want to initiate a civil suit/ case against the Government you have to give legal notice to the Government beforehand and only after that you can proceed to file a civil suit/ case against the Government.

Section 80 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908: This section talks about sending a legal notice to the Government or public officer if a person wants to take legal action against the government for any act claimed to be done by such public officer during his course of official duty until the expiration of 2 (two) months. The purpose or reason behind the giving of notice is to give Secretary of State or the public officer a chance to evaluate his legal position and to offer some kind of compensation or benefit without going to a court of law.

Why you should send Legal Notice:

1. It saves time and also the cost of litigation if the parties are complying with the demand of the notice.

2. It gives a prior acknowledgment to the party against whom the notice has been served that a suit is going to be initiated against him/her/them.

3. It is a legal requirement/ obligation which should have been compiled for the purpose of initiation of the suit.

Contents of Legal Notice:

1. A brief statement of the material facts which is giving rise to the claim;

2. The relief sought by the plaintiff against each named defendant;

3. A brief summary of the legal basis for the relief that is sought

Types of Legal Notices:

1.Legal Notice for Tenant Eviction

2. Legal Notice against Employee and Employer/Company

3. Legal Notice of Cheque Bounce

4. Legal Notice of Consumer Dispute

How to draft a Legal Notice? A legal notice is commonly a notice sent by a legal practitioner on behalf of his/her client. It is not obligatory for a person to send a legal notice only through an advocate, he/she can send a legal notice on his/her own accord without the assistance of an advocate, that is also fine and will not be denied.

Mandatory or Not: It is not mandatory to send a legal notice as exists no specific provision/enactments of law that make it obligatory to issue legal notice before filing a civil suit.

A legal notice is generally given by an advocate on behalf of his/her client for the purpose of soliciting a settlement. It is issued for the acceptance of the settlement or to reject it altogether in order to avail of a civil suit or legal remedies.

Procedure:

1. Once the objectives are clear, an advocate shall draft a sample legal notice accordingly.

2. The draft legal notice can be reviewed by you.

3. Once you approve it, it shall be served to the other party.

4. The whole process takes around 3-4 working days.