Definitions
Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 deals with definitions. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, (1) "Code" includes rules; The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1909.
In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,
(1) "Code" includes rules;
(2) "decree" means the formal expression of an adjudication which, so far as regards the Court expressing it, conclusively determines the rights of the parties with regard to all or any of the matters in controversy in the suit and may be either preliminary or final. It shall be deemed to include the rejection of a plaint and the determination of any question within 1*** section 144, but shall not include
(a) any adjudication from which an appeal lies as an appeal from an order, or
(b) any order of dismissal for default.
Explanation.A decree is preliminary when further proceedings have to be taken before the suit can be completely disposed of. It is final when such adjudication completely disposes of the suit. It may be partly preliminary and partly final;
(3) "decree-holder" means any person in whose favour a decree has been passed or an order capable of execution has been made;
(4) "district" means the local limits of the jurisdiction of a principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction (hereinafter called a District Court), and includes the local limits of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of a High Court;
[2(5) "foreign Court" means a Court situate outside India and not established or continued by the authority of the Central Government;]
(6) "foreign judgment" means the judgment of a foreign Court;
(7) "Government Pleader" includes any officer appointed by the State Government to perform all or any of the functions expressly imposed by this Code on the Government Pleader and also any pleader acting under the directions of the Government Pleader;
(7A) "High Court" in relation to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, means the High Court in Calcutta;
(7B) "India", except in sections 1, 29, 43, 44, 4 [44A,] 78, 79, 82, 83 and 87A, means the territory of India excluding the State of Jammu and Kashmir;]
(8) "Judge" means the presiding officer of a Civil Court;
(9) "judgment" means the statement given by the Judge of the grounds of a decree or order;
(10) "judgment-debtor" means any person against whom a decree has been passed or an order capable of execution has been made;
(11) "legal representative" means a person who in law represents the estate of a deceased person, and includes any person who intermeddles with the estate of the deceased and where a party sues or issued in a representative character the person on whom the estate devolves on the death of the party so suing or sued;
(12) "mesne profits" of property means those profits which the person in wrongful possession of such property actually received or might with ordinary diligence have received therefrom, together with interest on such profits, but shall not include profits due to improvements made by the person in wrongful possession;
(13) "movable property" includes growing crops;
(14) "order" means the formal expression of any decision of a Civil Court which is not a decree;
(15) "pleader" means any person entitled to appear and plead for another in Court, and includes an advocate, a vakil and an attorney of a High Court;
(16) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules;
(17) "public officer" means a person falling under any of the following descriptions, namely:
(a) every Judge;
(b) every member of 5 [an All-India Service];
(c) every commissioned or gazetted officer in the military 6 [naval or air] forces of7 [the Union] 8 *** while serving under the Government;
(d) Every officer of a court of Justice whose duty it is, as such officer, to investigate or report on any matter of law or fact, or to make, authenticate or keep any document, or to take charge or dispose of any property, or to execute any judicial process, or to administer any oath, or to interpret, or to preserve order, in the Court, and every person especially authorised by a court of Justice to perform any of such duties;
(e) every person who holds any office by virtue of which he is empowered to place or keep any person in confinement;
(f) every officer of the Government whose duty it is, as such officer, to prevent offences, to give information of offences, to bring offenders to justice, or to protect the public health, safety or convenience;
(g) every officer whose duty it is, as such officer, to take, receive, keep or expend any property on behalf of the Government, or to make any survey, assessment or contract on behalf of the Government, or to execute any revenue process, or to investigate, or to report on, any matter affecting the pecuniary interests of the Government, or to make, authenticate or keep any document relating to the pecuniary interests of the Government, or to prevent the infraction of any law for the protection of the pecuniary interests of the Government; and
(h) every officer in the service or pay of the Government, or remunerated by fees or commission for the performance of any public duty;
(18) "rules" means rules and forms contained in the First Schedule or made under section 122 or section 125;
(19) "share in a corporation" shall be deemed to include stock, debenture stock, debentures or bonds; and
(20) "signed", save in the case of a judgment or decree, includes stamped.
9* * * * *
Section 2, The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act 5 of 1908).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
- s. 1 Short title, commencement and extent
- s. 29 Service of foreign summonses
- s. 43 Execution of decrees passed by Civil Courts in places to which this Code does not extend
- s. 44 Execution of decrees passed by Revenue Courts in places to which this Code does not extend
- s. 122 Power of certain High Courts to make rules
- s. 125 Power of other High Courts to make rules
- s. 144 Application for restitution
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Hasham Abbas Sayyad v. Usman Abbas Sayyad
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Judgment of Main Case order-3.pdf 2006-12-12 DATE VERIFIED. CA 5721/2006. Sinha/Katju. A preliminary decree under CPC 2(2) is not executable; a final decree must be passed before auction/sale. Objections to territorial or pecuniary jurisdiction under s.21 are waivable; want of subject-matter jurisdiction is a nullity. Do not remap CPC 47 (already filled).
On this section: A preliminary decree under s.2(2) is not executable; a final decree must be passed before auction or sale in execution (Hasham Abbas).
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Balraj Taneja vs Sunil Madan
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When a defendant fails to file a written statement as required by Order 8 Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court has discretionary power under Order 8 Rule 10 to either pronounce judgment against the defendant or make such other order in relation to the suit as it thinks fit. This discretion cannot be exercised mechanically or punitively. Before the court can proceed to decree a suit under Order 8 Rule 10, particularly in cases like specific performance, the court must: (1) satisfy itself that even if facts in the plaint are treated as admitted due to non-filing of written statement, a judgment can legally be passed in favor of the plaintiff without requiring him to prove any fact; (2) ascertain that no disputed questions of fact exist within the plaint itself requiring investigation; (3) ensure that all mandatory legal requirements for the relief sought (such as Section 16 of the Specific Relief Act requiring plaintiff's readiness and willingness) are satisfied; (4) exercise its discretion judicially, considering all circumstances of the case, and not punitively due to procedural default; and (5) write a proper judgment containing concise statement of case, points for determination, decision, and reasons as mandated by Section 2(9) and Order 20 Rule 4(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure. A bare decree without reasoning is a material irregularity. Where the plaint itself contains disputed assertions regarding crucial facts (as where defendant claims certificate was sent but plaintiff denies receipt), these disputed facts cannot be treated as admitted merely due to non-filing of written statement; they must be proved by the plaintiff. The court must be cautious and must not proceed blindly under Order 8 Rule 10.
On this section: Defines 'judgment' as statement given by judge of grounds for decree or order; forms statutory foundation for requirement that judgment must contain reasons
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Rajni Rani vs Khairati Lal
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When a counter-claim filed by a defendant in a suit is adjudicated and dismissed on merits by the trial court expressing an opinion that it is barred by the principles of Order 2, Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, such order constitutes a final decree determining the conclusive rights of the defendant in relation to the counter-claim and must be challenged by way of appeal by paying the requisite court fee on the basis of the counter-claim valuation, not through a revision petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India or Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The High Court cannot entertain a revision petition to set aside such a final order dismissing a counter-claim as it amounts to interfering with a decree through supervisory jurisdiction which is not permissible in law.
On this section: Definition of decree as formal expression of adjudication conclusively determining rights of parties; includes rejection of plaint and determination under Section 144
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Sinnamani vs G. Vettivel
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When a statute (such as the Indian Trust Act) provides for filing a suit for certain purposes (e.g., Section 59 for beneficiary enforcement of trusts) and provides for filing original petitions for other purposes (e.g., Sections 72-73 for trustee management), the procedure prescribed by the statute must be strictly followed. An Original Petition filed in violation of this statutory procedure cannot be converted into a suit in the absence of an express enabling provision in the statute itself (such as exists in Section 295 of the Indian Succession Act but does not exist in the Trust Act). Courts cannot invoke general principles like the doctrine against hyper-technicalities or inherent jurisdiction under Section 151 CPC to circumvent the mandatory procedural distinctions established by the statute.
On this section: Defines 'Order' as formal expression of any decision of civil court which is not a decree; applied to classify Trust O.P. outcome as 'order' not 'decree'
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Umesh Pratap Singh vs Rayons Enlighting Humanity
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
A person can be held liable for failure to comply with a court order only if: (1) they were a party to the proceedings or were served with notice of the order; (2) they have the power to prevent the prohibited act; and (3) there is material evidence showing they were responsible for the violation. Penal provisions must be strictly construed, and the burden lies on the party seeking to invoke them. An individual holding an administrative position cannot be held personally liable for the acts of the institution they represent unless they have direct executive authority over those acts.
On this section: The NGT attempted to invoke this rule to hold the Mayor liable, but the Court found it inapplicable as the Mayor was not a party to the original proceedings and was not claiming through the Municipal Corporation
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 2
What have the courts held on Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure?
Hasham Abbas Sayyad v. Usman Abbas Sayyad (12 Dec 2006) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: A preliminary decree under s.2(2) is not executable; a final decree must be passed before auction or sale in execution (Hasham Abbas). Another 4 judgments on this section are set out below, all of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 1999 to 2025.
How do I find court cases under Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: CPC 2, section 2 CPC, section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 5 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Hasham Abbas Sayyad v. Usman Abbas Sayyad (12 Dec 2006).
What should I read with Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 1 (Short title, commencement and extent), section 29 (Service of foreign summonses), section 43 (Execution of decrees passed by Civil Courts in places to which this Code does not extend), section 44 (Execution of decrees passed by Revenue Courts in places to which this Code does not extend), and on 3 further provisions, so none of them can safely be read on its own.
When did Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure come into force?
Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, cited as CPC 2, came into force on 01 Jan 1909, having been enacted on 21 Mar 1908. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 115. Revision2475 words
- 60. Property liable to attachment and sale in execution of decree1869 words
- 9. Courts to try all civil suits unless barred714 words
- 42. Powers of Court in executing transferred decree653 words
- 92. Public charities610 words
- 35. Costs577 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.