Suits against foreign Rulers, Ambassadors and Envoys
Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 deals with suits against foreign Rulers, Ambassadors and Envoys. No. foreign State may be sued in any Court otherwise competent to try the suit except with the consent of the Central Government certified in writing by a Secretary to that Government : Provided that a person may, as a tenant of immovable property, sue without such consent as aforesaid [a foreign St The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1909.
(I) No. 1 *** foreign State may be sued in any Court otherwise competent to try the suit except with the consent of the Central Government certified in writing by a Secretary to that Government :
Provided that a person may, as a tenant of immovable property, sue without such consent as aforesaid 2[a foreign State] from whom he holds or claims to hold the property.
(2) Such consent may be given with respect to a specified suit or to several specified suits or with respect to all suits of any specified class or classes, and may specify, in the case of any suit or class of suits, the Court in which 3 [the foreign State] may be sued, but it shall not be given, unless it appears to the Central Government that 3 [the foreign State ]
(a) has instituted a suit in the Court against the person desiring to sue 4 [it], or
(b) by 5 [itself] or another, trades within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Court, or
(c) is in possession of immovable property situate within those limits and is to be sued with reference to such property or for money charged thereon, or
(d) has expressly or impliedly waived the privilege accorded to 4 [it] by this section.
6[(3) Except with the consent of the Central Government, certified in writing by a Secretary to that Government, no decree shall be executed against the property of any foreign State.]
(4) The preceding provisions of this section shall apply in relation to
7[(a) any ruler of a foreign State;]
8[(aa)] any Ambassador or Envoy of a foreign State;
(b) any High Commissioner of a Commonwealth country; and
(c) any such member of the staff 9 [of the foreign State or the staff or retinue of the Ambassador] or Envoy of a foreign State or of the High Commissioner of a Commonwealth country as the Central Government may, by general or special order, specify in this behalf,
10[as they apply in relation to a foreign State.]
11[(5) The following persons shall not be arrested under this Code. namely:
(a) any Ruler of a foreign State;
(b) any Ambassador or Envoy of a foreign State;
(c) any High Commissioner of a Commonwealth country ;
(d) any such member of the staff of the foreign State or the staff or retinue of the Ruler, Ambassador or Envoy of a foreign State or of the High Commissioner of a Commonwealth country, as the Central Government may, by general or special order, specify in this behalf.
(6) Where a request is made to the Central Government for the grant of any consent referred to in subsection (1), the Central Government shall, before refusing to accede to the request in whole or in part, give to the person making the request a reasonable opportunity of being heard.]
Section 86, 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.
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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Ethiopian Airlines vs Ganesh Narain Saboo
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Proceedings before Consumer Forums constitute 'suits' within the ordinary and generic meaning of the word, and such proceedings fall within the sweep of special Acts like Carriage by Air Act 1972 and Consumer Protection Act 1986. However, Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 regarding sovereign immunity of foreign states is inapplicable to consumer forum proceedings because: (1) Consumer Protection Act 1986 explicitly enumerates only limited CPC provisions as applicable through Section 13(4), (5), (6), and expressio unius principle excludes all other CPC provisions including Section 86; (2) As a special statute addressing specific subject matter with own procedures coming after general CPC 1908, Consumer Protection Act overrides conflicting CPC provisions; (3) Carriage by Air Act 1972 provides that high contracting parties to Warsaw Convention 1929 are deemed to have submitted to jurisdiction of Indian courts for carriage disputes, and Ethiopia as high contracting party since 1950 is covered by this deeming provision; (4) Participation in international commerce through accession to Warsaw Convention constitutes express waiver of sovereign immunity by foreign states. Consequently, Ethiopian Airlines as a state-owned entity engaged in commercial carriage activities cannot claim sovereign immunity against consumer protection proceedings and no Central Government consent is required for consumer to pursue complaint in Indian consumer forums.
On this section: Court held that Section 86 regarding sovereign immunity of foreign states is inapplicable to proceedings under Consumer Protection Act, as consumer forums are not 'courts' within strict meaning of CPC and Consumer Protection Act excludes CPC provisions through expressio unius principle
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International Dev. Research Centre vs Durgeswari Sahi
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Where the mutual contractual obligations of the parties to a dispute involving a foreign statutory organization have been satisfied and worked out, the question of whether such organization qualifies as a sovereign State entitled to immunity under Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure need not be determined, and the special leave petition challenging jurisdictional authority may be dismissed as moot.
On this section: Section 86 provides immunity from civil suit to a foreign sovereign and representatives of foreign states. The Court examined whether IDRC qualifies as a sovereign State within this section but refrained from deciding the question as contractual obligations were already met.
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.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… The judgment of Supreme Court in the case of Harbhajan Singh Dhalla Vs . UOI MANU/SC/0007/1986 : [1987]1SCR114 also has no application. A perusal of the judgment would show that the Supreme Court was interpreting the provisions of Sections 86 & 87 of the Code of Civil Procedure and it enumerated the principles/guidelines which should be kept in mind while granting or refusing to grant sanction to sue foreign States. This judgment obviously has no application on the facts of the present case where we are concerned the maintainability of the writ petition …
Questions about Section 86
What have the courts held on Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure?
Ethiopian Airlines vs Ganesh Narain Saboo (09 Aug 2011) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Court held that Section 86 regarding sovereign immunity of foreign states is inapplicable to proceedings under Consumer Protection Act, as consumer forums are not 'courts' within strict meaning of CPC and Consumer Protection Act excludes CPC provisions through expressio unius principle. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below, all of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2007 to 2011.
How do I find court cases under Section 86 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 86, section 86 CPC, section 86 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. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Ethiopian Airlines vs Ganesh Narain Saboo (09 Aug 2011).
What should I read with Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and has it changed?
2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.
When did Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure come into force?
Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure, cited as CPC 86, 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
- 2. Definitions890 words
- 9. Courts to try all civil suits unless barred714 words
- 42. Powers of Court in executing transferred decree653 words
- 92. Public charities610 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.