Caveat Petition

Subject : Polity

Section :Judiciary

Concept :

Apex Court bench headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud reprimanded a law student for filing a caveat in “Shailendra Mani Tripathi v. Union of India & Others”, a petition seeking menstrual leave for female students and working women across Indian institutions
It added that “this is a publicity-oriented caveat” and the student had “no business here.”

Caveat Petition

In common parlance, a caveat refers to “warning” or “caution”.
However, legally it connotes a “formal notice requesting the court to refrain from taking some specified action without giving prior notice to the person lodging the caveat.”
The person lodging the caveat is called a “caveator”.
The provision was inserted by the Amendment Act of 1976 after the Law Commission’s recommendation by Section 148A of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC).
However, the term is not expressly defined anywhere except in the Calcutta High Court’s 1978 ruling.

Who can fill the Caveat?

Any person has a right to lodge a caveat in a Court.
Any person claiming a right to appear before the Court on the hearing of such application may lodge a caveat in respect thereof.
The caveator or the person lodging is also required to serve a notice of the caveat by “registered post” to the person on whose plea they are lodging the application