Suits filed by Aliens, by or against Foreign Rulers and Ambassadors

1. SUITS FILED BY ALIENS, BY OR AGAINST
FOREIGN RULERS AND AMBASSADORS
By Dhanashree Varma | B.A.LL.B(Hons) TY | Sandip University

2. INTRODUCTION:
• The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 regulates
human activities within the territory of India. It
means that if the cause of action arises in India,
the CPC shall regulate it. The code nowhere
mentions that the plaintiff or defendant has to be
an Indian Citizen for the Code to apply. The only
requirement is that the cause of action must arise
in India.

3. ILLUSTRATION
• X is a rice trader in Chennai who is extremely
popular for his quality of rice in Southern India
and some parts of Sri Lanka. Y, who has retail
business in rice enters into an agreement with X
for sale of rice. After the payment of advance
money, X denied the contract. Here, Y can sue X in
Indian courts since the cause of action arose in
India even if Y is an alien to India.

4. .
• These procedures for the suit by aliens and foreign
government, etc. are dealt with under Part IV of the
Code. Part IV can be divided into three parts for the
purpose of brevity:
Suit by Aliens
Suit by and against Foreign States
Suits by and against Foreign Rules and Ambassadors.

5. SUITS BY ALIENS
• Section 83 of the CPC deals with the aspects and procedures
for suits filed by aliens. The term alien is not defined either
under the Section or anywhere under the code. However, in
general, a person is alien to a country if s/he is not a citizen of
that country and is residing in that country either for a
certain purpose or as a refugee. It means any foreign citizen
who has taken shelter in any place in India is called an alien.
• Under Section 83, an alien has been classified into alien
friends and alien enemies residing in India and alien enemies
residing outside India. Section 83 goes to explain what is an
alien enemy residing outside India but the other two are left
for interpretation.

6. ALIEN ENEMIES RESIDING IN FOREIGN
COUNTRIES
• According to the explanation to Section 83, if a
person resides and carries on business in a foreign
country which is at war or in a situation of conflict
that may result in war, such persons are called
alien enemies residing in foreign countries.
Further, it is vital that the person carries on
business in the enemy country without license and
permission from the Central government.

7. .
Alien enemy residing in India
• Alien enemy residing in India
is a person who resides and
carries on business in India
either with the license or
without the license from the
central government but is a
citizen of a foreign country
with which India is at war or
in a situation of war.
Alien friend
• An alien friend is a person
residing and carrying on
business in India and is a
citizen of a foreign country
with which India is an ally or
in friendly relations.

8. .
• According to Section 83, an alien friend and an alien enemy
residing and carrying on business in India with the license
from the authorities shall have the right to sue in Indian
courts for any infringement of rights.
• Notwithstanding any infringement of rights, an alien
enemy residing and carrying on business in India without
permission and an alien enemy residing and carrying on
business outside India shall not have the right to sue in
Indian courts.
• The sine qua non for exercising the right to sue by aliens is
that the court must be competent to try the case. It must
have the requisite territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction.

9. SUITS BY AND AGAINST FOREIGN STATES
• LICRA v. Yahoo Inc. In this case, Yahoo Inc. was selling
Nazi memorabilia on its online shopping website. The
products were banned to be sold in France and Yahoo
France had already removed all such products from its
website.
• However, orders were placed and memorabilia were
purchased from the Yahoo Inc. (Yahoo in US) by people of
France. Against this action, France filed a suit in the US
circuit court for an order of permanent injunction against
Yahoo selling memorabilia in France and for damages.
• This is an example of a suit by a foreign State which is filed
for any act done against the State as a whole or any of its
people.

10. .
• In India, Section 84 of the CPC allows a foreign
State to sue in Indian courts and Section 86 allows
any entity to sue a foreign State in Indian courts.
• Similar to the provisions related to suit by aliens, a
suit by or against the foreign state can only be filed
before a court of competent jurisdiction
territorially and pecuniary. A suit by a foreign
State can be filed for the following purposes:
 Enforce the Rights of Ruler
 Enforce the Rights of Public Officers

11. ENFORCE THE RIGHTS OF RULER
• A suit can be filed by a foreign State to enforce the
private rights of a ruler of the foreign State which
are bestowed upon him by the virtue of his post. It
means that if the ruler of the foreign State has
created any right in his favour by any agreement
or by law, and such right is infringed by the act of
an Indian citizen or the State, a suit can be filed to
restore the right of the ruler.

12. ENFORCE THE RIGHTS OF PUBLIC OFFICERS
• The doctrine of Parens Patriae holds the State in
the position of a parent of subjects under it. Thus,
it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that
the rights of its officers are not violated or
infringed by actions of any other State or its
citizens. Hence, Section 84 vests power in the
hands of the foreign State to sue in Indian courts to
enforce the rights vested in their officers.

13. SUITS BY AND AGAINST FOREIGN RULERS
• Sections 85 and 86 of the Code deal with the
procedure for the institution of suits by foreign
rulers, ambassadors, envoys, etc. Section 85
explains the process of representation of foreign
rulers and foreign States while Section 86 deals
with procedure and requirements to sue a foreign
ruler, ambassador, etc.

14. .
• It is significant to note that when the question is
about a suit filed by or against a foreign ruler, it
cannot be expected that the ruler himself/herself
will file the suit or be present before the court at
all the hearings. Therefore, there is a need for a
provision to deal with these aspects and to ensure
that there is a fair and reasonable trial.

15. REPRESENTATION OF FOREIGN RULERS
• Section 86 empowers the Central government to
appoint any person (having sufficient legal
knowledge) to represent the foreign ruler in a case
where the suit is filed by the foreign ruler. The
government is not required to act voluntarily but the
suing party, i.e. the foreign State or the foreign ruler
shall request the central government to appoint a
lawyer for his/her representation in the court. The
request may be made by a foreign ruler himself or any
person authorized by him for that purpose.

16. .
• Any person who is appointed as a lawyer for such
foreign ruler must be deemed to be a recognized
agent of that person and he shall be entitled to
take all the decisions beneficial for the ruler with
his consent and all such decisions shall be valid.
The person shall have the right to appear and sign
applications on behalf of the foreign ruler under
the CPC and such acts shall be deemed to be legal
and valid.

17. .
• The government may appoint the person to represent
the foreign ruler for one particular suit or several suits
or all the suits filed by such ruler or public officer
within a specified period of time. the request should
be promptly made by the ruler and it should be
mentioned whether the representation is required for
one suit or several suits.
• Section 85(3) also allows the appointed representative
to authorize or appoint someone else to act on his
behalf and exercise all these powers if the person
appointed by the Central Government is himself a
party to the suit filed by the foreign ruler.

18. PROCEDURE TO SUE
• The first vital requirement under Section 86 which
is required under all suits filed by anyone is that
the suit must be filed before a competent
authority, i.e. a civil court having requisite
territorial, pecuniary and subject-matter
jurisdiction The procedure enshrined under
Section 86 applies to any suit filed against a
Foreign State, foreign rulers, ambassadors of
different countries and envoys.

19. THE PROCEDURE CAN BE EXPLAINED IN THE
FOLLOWING POINTS
1. The central government must give written consent
under the hands of the Secretary to the government
to sue the foreign State, ruler, etc.
2. If the suit is filed by a tenant who is in possession of
an immovable property owned by a foreign State, the
consent by the Central Government is not required.
3. The central government can provide its consent for
one suit or several suits as the case may be.

20. CONTD.
4. The central government must ensure that either of the
four circumstances exists before instituting any suit
against the foreign ruler.
(a) That the foreign ruler has already instituted a suit against
the plaintiff, or
(b) That such State or ruler carries on trade within the local
jurisdiction of the court, or
(c) The immovable property must be the subject matter of
the suit and not the charge on it and such property should
be situated within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the
court, or
(d) That the foreign ruler, etc. has deliberately waived the
privileges of non-arrest under Section 86 (5).

21. CONTD.
5. If a decree has been pronounced by the court in
favour of the plaintiff and against the foreign State
or its ruler, it cannot be executed without the
explicit consent of the Centre certified by the
Secretary to the central government.
• The above provisions apply equally to the Foreign
rulers, ambassadors and envoys or any other public
officer who belongs to a foreign country and has a
cause of action either in favour or against him
India.