Introduction
There are often instances when an individual or entity has to take legal action against another person or entity. Consumer complaints, property disputes, bounce cheque, divorce, eviction, and many more can be made on a number of occasions. However, it is important that you inform the other person that you are going to initiate legal action against them. That is why you are sending a legal notice to an individual or organization.
A Legal Notice is a formal written document sent by a person or entity in respect of a grievance. It is sent as a warning to the receiver that the sender of the notification has a number of grievances that are not properly addressed by the receiver, although the receiver has given the receiver sufficient opportunity to resolve the problem.
It is like a final warning to the receiver that the sender is all prepared to take legal action and is the last chance for the receiver to settle the matter in hand properly.
Legal Notice
Legal notices are generally filed in civil cases. In criminal proceedings, there is no judicial warning, because, in the event of a criminal offense, the State should pursue a suit against the individual causing the crime, because the State is the sole authority. Nevertheless, if you wish to launch a civil claim against the State, you will first give legal notice to the State, and only then will you file a civil claim against the Government.
Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, provides for the submission of a legal notice to the Government or to a public official if he or she wishes to initiate legal action against them for any act claimed to have been carried out by that public official during the course of his or her official duties until the expiration of two months. The purpose of the notice is to give the Secretary of State or the public official the opportunity to reassess his legal position and to offer some kind of compensation without going to the court of law.
In Bihari Chowdhary v. State of Bihar[1], the Supreme Court stated that “the aim of this section is to advance justice and to ensure the public good by avoiding unnecessary litigation.”
A legal notice is essentially a notice sent by a lawyer on behalf of his client. It is not mandatory for a person to send a legal notice through a lawyer; he/she may, on his / her own initiative, send a legal notice without the assistance of a lawyer.
It is not even mandatory to send a legal notice, as there are no specific provisions/laws that make it mandatory to issue a legal notice before filing a suit.
In general, a legal notice is issued by a lawyer on behalf of his client for the purpose of seeking a settlement. It is given either to approve an offer or to refuse it in its entirety in order to allow the use of a criminal claim or a judicial remedy.
Partition of Property
Partition involves the separation of properties owned together by mutual co-owners into separate parts so that they can retain them in various pieces. The Partition Act, 1893 grants an individual the authority to assert rights over his or her portion of the land jointly shared by him or her with the other joint owner of the same land.
Property undergoing partition shall be distributed among the legal heirs to the property in a proportion decided by or ordered by the Court. Legal notice in the event of division of the property can be submitted to the other joint owner of the property by the joint owner or by some other party who has an interest in the land.
According to Indian laws, there exist two kinds of properties that can be partitioned:
- Self-Acquired Property: Self-Acquired property is the property that is procured or earned by an individual by his/her work and isn’t acquired from his/her progenitors. Any property obtained by Will or as a gift is likewise a self-acquired property. Self-acquired property can’t be partitioned during the lifetime of the individual who has procured the property. The individual who has procured the property can make a Will while he is alive so as to make it understood as to in what extent and among who all it must be appropriated to, after his/her demise. In situations where the Will isn’t made by the proprietor of the property, the property is passed onto his Class-1 beneficiaries after his/her demise.
- Ancestral Property: Ancestral Property is the type of property acquired by a person through his or her ancestors or forefathers by virtue of his or her birth in the family. The said property must be four generations old. The right of compulsory partitioning of ancestral property does not come from a choice but from a vested interest.
Procedure for Property Partition Legal Notice
A legal notice may be sent, in the case of the partitioning of the property, to request a partition of the property jointly owned by a person or a family member by another joint owner of the property. When a person owns a property jointly with another person, he or she is entitled to send a legal notice to the other joint owner of the partition of the property which could lead to him or her being the sole owner of his or her share of the partitioned property after the partition has been carried out.
The legal notice on the partitioning of land will include a variety of important points, such as:
- Age, definition, and place of residence of the sender of the notification;
- Facts leading to the grievance;
- The relief claimed by the sender of the notification;
- Description of the legal justification of the relief claimed;
- Proof of the basis for intervention.
The legal notice is drawn up by a lawyer, most important of all by a property lawyer. Appropriate legal notices to be sent in the event of the partitioning of the property may be drawn up with the assistance of a good property lawyer.
A good property lawyer can help to send a legal notice on behalf of his client in the event of the partitioning of the property, as he would be able to understand the client ‘s problem, draft an appropriate legal notice to be sent for the partitioning of the property, and provide better guidance to the client on what needs to be done and how.
In the event of no response to the legal notice or continuation of the dispute, the aggrieved party may file a partition suit by filing before the Court all relevant documents relating to the dispute. To file a partition suit, there is a given procedure that needs to be followed. Before the partition suit is presented, it is necessary to give legal notice to the other co-owners of the property claiming the land. Until all the formalities have been accomplished by the individual bringing the complaint, the Court will decide all the representations and interests of each party until reviewing the case and hearing all the arguments.
Finally, the Court may decide whether the property can be partitioned solely on the basis of a partition suit or whether there is a need to follow a further procedure. It might order what needs to be done next.
In the event that the defendants consent to the terms of the notice after they have obtained it, the parties sign the Deed of Partition by mutual agreement. A Deed of Partition can also be reported before the District or Additional District Sub-Registrar concerned. Respective stamp duties shall be paid to the Government at the time of registration of the partition deed.
Conclusion
A legal notice is a written legal paper produced by a lawyer for his client. While it is not necessary to give a legal notice before bringing a claim in all situations, it is also regarded to be a very essential document in every legal action because, in most instances, real conflicts or problems are settled even without heading to the court of law with a simple note. The effectiveness of the legal notice also depends on the skill of the lawyer in drafting the issues involved in a presentable manner for the recipient.
Reference:
[1] Bihari Chowdhary v. State of Bihar, AIR 1984 SC 1043.
This article is written by Lavish Sharma student of 3rd year B.A. LL.B.(Hons.) at the Institute of Law Nirma University
Also Read: What is property verification?
