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Section 19: Suits for compensation for wrongs to person or movables

Code of Civil Procedure • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1908
Section 18 All 158 Sections of Code of Civil Procedure Section 20

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 19

Section 19 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 enacts a specialized jurisdictional option for actionable civil torts, granting the plaintiff the statutory choice to sue either where the tortious wrong was committed or where the defendant resides, carries on business, or personally works for gain.

  • Penal Consequences & Liability: The substantive scope of Section 19 is restricted strictly to civil actions seeking monetary compensation for torts committed against the person (such as assault, battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and defamation) or wrongs committed against movable property (such as conversion, trespass to goods, wrongful seizure, or damage to chattels).
  • Core Legal Standard: Suits concerning title to movables under distraint fall under Section 16(f), while suits relating to immovable property are governed strictly by Sections 16, 17, and 18.

Under Section 19, the plaintiff as dominus litis possesses an unfettered statutory option between two concurrent forums: the forum delicti commissi (the court within whose territorial limits the tortious act occurred) and the forum rei (the court within whose local limits the defendant voluntarily resides, carries on business, or works for gain). In torts involving cross-border or multi-state elements—such as libellous material published across multiple jurisdictions or defamatory broadcasts—the wrong is deemed committed wherever the defamatory content is circulated and read by third parties, thereby creating territorial jurisdiction in each such locality.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • State of Maharashtra v. Sarvodaya Industries, AIR 1975 Bom 197: The High Court held that the expression "wrong done" in Section 19 refers to tortious actions causing actionable civil harm, confirming the plaintiff's absolute statutory right to institute proceedings where the injury was sustained.
  • Khanna v. F.J. Lovell Hadfield, AIR 1975 Cal 239: The High Court ruled that in suits for libel or defamation, the tortious wrong is committed at every place where the defamatory matter is published and disseminated, providing territorial competence to the civil court where publication occurred.
Legal Commentary:

When formulating tort claims under Section 19, plaintiffs must substantiate the precise locus delicti in the pleadings—such as the exact geographical spot where personal injury occurred or where defamatory statements were accessed. While the plaintiff enjoys statutory choice of venue, courts retain discretionary transfer power under Section 22 to Section 24 if balance of convenience overwhelmingly favors the defendant's forum.

Section 18 All 158 Sections of Code of Civil Procedure Section 20