Caveat Petition: Know next move of your opponent in Civil proceedings

What is Caveat?

Caveat is just a preemptive measure to know on the event of suit being initiated against you with respect to particular dispute between the parties.

What is Caveat Petition?

Caveat petition or application could be sought be any person who feels imminent threat of getting sued by others. Caveat Petition must be placed before the court under whose jurisdiction caveator may be sued by the opposite party or parties.

Lapse of Caveat

“Nothing is permanent and perpetual so the caveat”

A cause is limited with a prescribed time period. So the caveat application. They are not ever lasting upon the opposite parties. Any Caveat application is valid for 90 days from the date of application of Caveat application before any court.

Most difficult part with the caveat is the time gap of one or two days from the expected date of being sued to the actual date of filing the suit by the opposite parties. For instance, consider you have own the suit in the trial court, but you sense that the opponent who lost the suit would appeal before the appeal court and decided to file a caveat application before the appeal court to notify you on event of an appeal suit being filed or injunction suit. There would be no problem if the caveat application is filed without any delay. But an unforeseen incident caused a delay of 2 days to file the caveat application then you can see an opportunity for the opponent party to file an appeal suit within 2 days thus frustrate your caveat application.

Advantage of Caveat application:

Nothing changes the consequence of the suit proceeding with or without your caveat application. Remember, caveat is just a preemptive measure to know on the event of suit being initiated against you with respect to particular dispute between the parties. So this will not prevent your opponent to move next appeal court to settle the dispute.

The great advantage which comes with caveat application is that no interim injunctions would be granted against you by the appeal court without hearing you. To be simple, the appeal court or court to which caveat application has been presented will not grant an exparte injunction against you with respect to that particular dispute.