Offer Of Judgment Rule Proposing Section 35C in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908

There are several alarming figures that sum up the need for judicial reform, especially in the domain of contract enforcement. This paper undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the solution to improve contract enforcement in India, lobbying for a demand-side approach. It focuses on the offer of judgment rule, i.e. Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as suggested by Shubho Roy, and builds on that. The paper reviews the existing scholarly work on the current debate on the efficacy of Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

After a detailed analysis of the Rule 68, the paper proposes recommendations pertaining to a working blueprint of the implementation of the Rule, compiled from various law journals. It also proceeds to propose a new section 35C in the CPC that would encourage settlement.

The paper argues that an efficiently functioning and empowered legal milieu which assures and safeguards the property rights of people is very crucial for any economy that seeks to plant itself amongst the front ranks of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

The paper was presented before the 21st Law Commission of India in 2016.

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