This article on ‘All You Need to Know About Legal Notices in India‘ was written by Riya Chaudhary, an intern at Legal Upanishad.
Introduction
Pre-planned arrangements for all forms of formal arrangements are known as a “format. A legal notice is one of these types of formal communications. A person should stick to the format of a legal notice while drafting it. With a legal notice, the sender notifies the recipient about the legal proceedings against the latter. This article will explore the meaning, types, and content of a legal notice along with the provisions dealing with legal notice in India.
What is a Legal notice?
A legal notice is a sort of formal communication between the sender and the recipient. A legal notice also serves to inform the recipient of the sender’s grievance. It is filed only in civil cases not in criminal cases Because the Indian Judicial System is so expensive, people try different alternatives before going to courts, such as arbitration, mediation, and negotiation, to resolve issues that are sometimes misunderstandings. The above-mentioned alternatives are settled based on legal notice.
A legal notice has different types of importance, such as
- It helps in settling the matter before any trial.
- The recipient comes to know about the acts or complaints that he has been accused of
- If the issue does not settle separately, it will be a key to filling the case.
- It can save time and money for both sender and recipient.
There is also a pre-legal notice that is sent before the legal notice, which works as an informal, personal communication between the parties. Where a legal notice acts as an indication of preparation to litigate a lawsuit against the recipient, a pre-legal notice works as a warning before any legal notice.
Contents of the Legal Notice
Drafting a notice can be done by a particular person or a group, but that won’t be a wise decision to make. Therefore, the sender can get their notice drafted by a legal practitioner with good work experience. There is no exact format or wording to follow, but legal terms and common words should be used to avoid any further debate over words and their meanings. A notice drafted by the advocate is made on his or her letterhead, which contains the address and contact details of the advocate. It contains information like:
- Full name, current address, and further details of the sender.
- Full name, the existing current address of the recipient.
- Summary
- Solution/relief with a properly detailed overview
- Adequate time frame to expect a reply
- Official signature of the Advocate
- Official signature of the sender
Types of Legal Notice
- Eviction legal notice:- The Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act (URLTA), which was passed in 1872, provides landlords with a wide range of legal remedies. A landlord has the right to demand that a tenant leave the property and to begin the eviction process against him. The procedure through which a landlord can kick out renters from his property is called an eviction. The procedure starts with the landlord serving the tenant with a formal notice to resolve the issues or else leave the property.
- Legal Notices Regarding Trust Breach:- According to section 406 of the Indian Penal Code, anyone who is in any way entrusted with property or who has any dominion over property dishonestly misappropriates or converts to their use their property, uses, or disposes of that property dishonestly, or violates any direction of law prescribing the manner in which such trust is to be discharged, or any legal contract, express or implied, which he has made touching the discharge of such trust, or willfully permits any other person to do.
- Legal Notice on Cheating:- According to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, whoever defrauds and thereby dishonestly induces the person deceived to deliver any property to any person, to make, alter, or destroy the whole or any part of valuable security, or anything that is signed or sealed and is being capable of being converted into a valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term that may extend to seven years, as well as being liable to fine.
- Legal Notice for a Cheque Bounce:- Cheque bounce notices are a direct and harsh warning to the cheque issuer that the cheque recipient may file a lawsuit if payment is not made on time. Within 30 days of the check being returned for insufficient funds, the check issuer must receive a Notice of Section 138. According to Section 138 of the Law on Negotiable Instruments, in the event that a check is dishonored, this Notice must be delivered to the defaulting debtor by a Notice from the unpaid creditor (payee) through an attorney. The Notice is a model legal notice that gives the drawer 15 days to pay the outstanding amount. The right to file a lawsuit belongs to the payee. Only if the money was not paid after 15 days of receiving notice can the payee take legal action against the specific defaulting drawer.
- Legal Notice on partition suit:- In India, there are typically two situations in which one may send a formal notice for the division of property:
- It is unlawful for one or more members of joint undivided property to sell, gift, mortgage, lease out, or otherwise dispose of the property. It can be contested by others through a legal notice for the split of property without the written approval of all the other co-owners. The rule only applies to inherited property; it does not apply to assets obtained through self-acquisition.
- On the other hand, if one or more joint property owners indicate their wish to divide the property and are willing to do so, and if the other owners refuse, then legal notice for a partition suit may be sent against them. If the defendants accept the terms after receiving a legal notice, then all parties may mutually sign a Deed of Partition.
- Legal notice for money recovery:- A formal request to warn one another before legal action is initiated to recover a valid payment is known as a legal notice for money recovery. You can actually issue a legal notice to your friend to recover the debt if they owe you a lot of money, which may surprise you. To recover money that is owed to you, legal notices play a critical part in the collection of claims. You can provide official notices of refunds from retailers to your coworkers, landlords, friends, businesses, banks, etc.
Section 80 (The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908)
Sections 79 to 82 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) deal with the procedure to implement the aforementioned Sections as far as suits brought by or against the Government are concerned. Order 27 of the CPC deals with general principles regarding suits involving a Governmental Authority.
As previously noted, lawsuits involving the government are exceptional situations, and the process used is different from that used in regular civil cases. Section 80 of the CPC serves as an illustration of this, requiring the party bringing a lawsuit against the government to deliver a notice confirming the plaintiff’s purpose two months prior to filing the lawsuit. In routine lawsuits, the plaintiff is not required to provide the defendant notice before filing the lawsuit.
According to Section 80(1), written notification must be delivered to or left at the relevant government agency two months before the lawsuit is filed. This particular clause was created by the legislature with the idea that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be lost on pointless lawsuits.
We all know that taxes are one of the main ways that the government makes money, which it then uses to support public welfare and maintain the government. Any use of this money that might have been avoided would have been damaging to the entire country. The government will be able to evaluate the legal situation and try to resolve the issue without going to court if a notification confirming the plaintiff’s intention is delivered two months prior to the filing of the lawsuit.
How to reply to a Legal Notice?
Simply read it through completely without getting anxious and ask your legal counsel for assistance. You can also employ the assistance of numerous reputable businesses that offer legal services. They will assist you in responding to the notice promptly. Make sure to respond within the allotted time frame; else, it is void. You must verify the senders’ full information and the time they specified.
The contract draught under which you were served must then be read. You will be able to verify whether the accusations are true and, in such circumstances, seek legal assistance. After reading through everything, you must work with your attorney to quickly craft a response. It will assist you in avoiding any significant legal issues. A response to the notice may also be sent online.
Conclusion
Using a legal notice, two parties can communicate clearly and save time and money by resolving their conflict out of court. Any legal action may be pursued after serving the notice on the person or organization that has been told to appear in court. it is the sole mechanism that legalizes getting a matter to court. In other words, a legal notice basically informs the other party that legal action will be taken against them.
Reference List
- Pearl Narang and Rahul Mahajan(Oct. 10, 2019). Everything you must know about legal notice and its format. Retrieved: https://blog.ipleaders.in/legal-notice-format/
- Awantika Mallik(May 16, 2020). All about Legal Notice. Retrieved: https://www.lloydlawcollege.edu.in/blog/all-about-legal-notice.html
- Lawzgridfirm. Things you need to know about sending a legal notice. Retrieved: https://legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-162-things-you-need-to-know-about-sending-a-legal-notice-.html#:~:text=The%20legal%20notice%20is%20a,grievances%20and%20difficulty%20caused%20to