WRITTEN STATEMENT & VAKALATNAMA &
EXAMINATION AND CROSS-EXAMINATION
WRITTEN STATEMENT
Written statement is the defense of the defendants.
A 'defense' called the written statement, in general this is a reply of plaint, in which
defendant deny or admit the each and every allegation or facts given in the plaint.
Denial or admission must be Para wise and clear.
In the written statement defendant can put his case also under the heading additional
plea, and can states new facts or ground which is necessary to defeat the opponent.
If defendant want to put his own claim against the plaintiff he can put it by way of set-
off and counterclaim under order 8 Rule 6 and 6A of C.P.C.
Drafting of Written Statement
Order VIII of CPC provides for the filing of a written- statement, the particulars to be
contained therein and the manner of doing so.
It requires what a written statement should contain.
Before drafting the written statement, it is the duty of the defendant to study the plaint
thoroughly and all the documents submitted by the plaintiff with the plaint in support
of his claim.
After the thorough study of the plaint and supported documents a para wise answer of
the plaint can be prepared.
Order VIII of the Code of Civil Procedure deals with the written statement, set off and
counterclaim.
VAKALATNAMA
A Vakalatnama is not defined either in the Power -of- Attorney Act, 1882 or in the
Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
A Vakalatnama is the document empowering a lawyer to act for and on behalf of his
client.
A Vakalatnama under which a lawyer is empowered to act may be general.
It may specifically confer wide authority upon a lawyer.
A pleader is defined under section 2(15) of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, as
follows-
“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.
Though in a sense a Vakalatnama is a power-of-attorney, in the matter of
construction, courts have drawn a distinction between the two and in the application
of the principles of construction, most of the courts while interpreting a power-of-
attorney strictly have interpreted a Vakalatnama liberally so as to infer the conferment
of large and wide powers on the counsel.
EXAMINATION AND CROSS-EXAMINATION
• Examination of a witness is asking the witness questions regarding relevant facts in
the case and recording the statements of witnesses as evidence.
• There are three parts to the examination of a witness and Section 138 of the Evidence
Act states that the witness must be examined in the following order which is provided
in the next slide :-
• First, the party that called the witness examines him, this process is
called EXAMINATION-IN-CHIEF as mentioned under Section 137 of the Indian
Evidence Act.
• After the completion of the examination-in-chief, if the opposite party wants to, they
can take over the witness and cross-question him about his previous answers. The
opposite party may ask him any question regarding all the relevant facts and not
merely the facts discussed during the examination-in-chief. This process has been
described in Section 137 of the act as CROSS-EXAMINATION.
• If the party that called the witness sees the need to examine the witness again after
cross-examination, they may examine the witness one more time. This has been laid
down as
• RE-EXAMINATION in Section 137 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
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