According to the Code of Civil Procedure, in civil cases, the trial judicial process begins with the filing of a plaint wherein the plaintiff lays down the grievances and the prayer sought for. This is followed by the process of issuing summons to the party(ies) against whom the plaint has been filed. This summons is a part of compelling the other party to appear before the court to contest the allegations made against him/her. The other party is known as defendant. On the receipt of summons, the defendants submit the written statement. Subsequently, there is also a provision for filing a further reply to the written statement in the form of a rejoinder.

After this, the court frames the issues on the basis of the points of contention. After this stage, a list of witnesses is submitted and these witnesses are examined during the trial on the points of contention. This is the stage of advancement of arguments and the basis of these arguments, the judgment is pronounced. In certain cases, where a substantial question of law is involved, the court can also file for a reference during the pendency of the proceeding and then pronounce the judgment. The party that is not satisfied with the judgment can further initiate proceedings by way of appeal, revision or review.

Civil judicial techniques include:

i.               Res Judicata which is mentioned in Section 11 of the Civil Procedure Code and states that once a case has been decided, it cannot be filed within the same jurisdiction on the basis of the same cause of action. This principle is meant to save the time of the bar and the bench along with preventing the plaintiff from incurring unnecessary expenses. This is similar to the concept of res subjudice defined in Section 10 of Civil Procedure Code which follows the same procedure for stay in a suit.

ii.              Estoppel is a conceptual build up along side sections 115 to 117 of the Indian Evidence Act. The primarily revolve around the fact, once a thing has been accepted, it cannot be denied later. One cannot take back what he/she has said earlier. The purpose behind estoppel is to prevent one party from contradicting earlier statements. Equitable estoppel provides protection to the parties getting affected by another’s contradiction.