1 Drafting of petition under Article 226 in Marathi

1 Drafting of petition under Article 226/227 

The importance of the drafting vis a vis oral arguments has been vividly discussed by the Supreme Court in P N Eswara Iyer v. Registrar AIR 1980 SC 808 while considering the constitutional validity of the exclusion of oral arguments in the context of the review jurisdiction; 

• For good drafting one should possess:

  Good command of language 

 Clarity of facts  Clarity of law 

 Ability to arrange facts in sequence of time or date

  Ability to arrange bare facts (without mixing the facts and legal submissions)  Ability to discard or exclude the facts that are not remotely relevant to the controversy, however, at the same time taking care of not suppressing material facts  Ability to frame the prayer clause succinctly- what your client wants and what is absurd to demand. 

2. Importance of drafting skill:  Drafting of petition is a skill on which the fate of your case depends to a large extent. One must, therefore, possess the skill of drafting the petition. It is like painting a picture. One must take as much care in drafting of a petition which an artist takes while painting a picture. 2  Most of the judges in High Courts and the Supreme Court read on the previous day the cases/petitions to be listed for admission/hearing on the next day. Good drafting helps them in understanding the problem/legal issues involved in the case.  You might feel that judge is not going to read your entire petition so why should you take much care in drafting a petition, but you must remember that your every oral submission of the fact and law in court room should be part of the petition. If relevant facts and legal submissions do not form part of the petition, the court will not be able to help you and your petition might be dismissed for the want of sufficient facts. Your opponent will also raise an objection that the petitioner should not be allowed to travel beyond his pleading.  The prayer clause must be meticulously drafted since the court will refuse to grant any relief not prayed for in the petition.  If relevant facts are not stated or legal submissions are not made in the petition, it gives an opportunity to the opponent to get your case dismissed on such grounds. 

3. Pre-Drafting Stage (Discussion with client and collection of information)  Drafting of a plaint or petition depends on the effective collection of facts and information from the client. 3  Treat your client with your curtesy -ask your client to tell his problem in brief – allow him to open up and vent his grievances for some time.  Ask questions to your client for gathering facts of his case and tell him to show relevant documents – try to ascertain correct facts and all important details.  Ask your client whether he had taken out any legal proceeding in the past in respect of the problem he has brought before you.  Arrange the facts and relevant documents in chronology  Don’t jump to any conclusion – don’t give your judgment – you are a lawyer not a judge.  Find out which is the most appropriate remedy [civil suit, criminal complaint, approaching special tribunal, filing appealrevision or review etc] for the redressal of the problem brought before you.  Find out whether it is advisable to bypass the alternative remedy and approach the high court directly - discuss this aspect clearly with your client.  Ask your client if he was missing any relevant fact to be mentioned and relevant documents to be produced – explain him the consequences of suppression of material fact or documents from the court – opponent will expose your suppression when he is called upon to answer your petition.4  Finally ask your client what he wants from the court – note down the relief clearly which your client wants- arrange the relief in sequence in anticipation that if the court is not to grant the first relief prayed for what is the next relief by which your client would be satisfied – lastly discuss the minimum relief which you might get for your client – never tell your client that he has no case – he comes for the solution of his problem and not to hear from you that his case is worthless- you can broadly say to your client that he has a legally strong case or a little weak case or not a very strong case.