Question

Principle: Civil Suit can be filed where defendant resides or carries on business or where cause of action arises.
Facts: ‘A’ carries on business in Gurgaon, ‘B’ carries on Business in Mumbai. ‘B’ through his agent in Gurgaon purchases goods in Gurgaon and takes delivery through agent in Gurgaon. Where Civil Suit for payment of price can be filed by ‘A’?

• A. Gurgaon only where cause of action arises
• B. At Mumbai where B carries on Business
• C. At either of the places i.e. Mumbai or Gurgaon
• D. Anywhere in India

Hint:

The venue for filing a civil suit depends on the residence or business of the defendant, or the location of the cause of action.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

According to the principle, a civil suit can be filed in any jurisdiction where the defendant resides or conducts business, or where the cause of action arises. In this case, the defendant ‘B’ carries on business in Mumbai, but the cause of action arises in Gurgaon where the goods were purchased. Thus, the suit can be filed in either Mumbai or Gurgaon.
Thus, the correct answer is (C).
Option (A) is incorrect because filing the suit in only one jurisdiction is not mandatory. Option (B) is incorrect because the cause of action arose in Gurgaon. Option (D) is incorrect because it is not necessary to file the suit anywhere in India.

Answer 2

The question asks where A can sue B for the price of goods, given B's business location and where the actual transaction happened. Let's check each option.

1. Gurgaon only, where the cause of action arises: Gurgaon is indeed one valid place to sue, since the purchase and delivery both happened there through B's agent. But limiting the suit to Gurgaon alone ignores that B's place of business is also a valid forum under the principle.
2. At Mumbai, where B carries on business: Mumbai is also a valid place to sue since that is where B carries on business. But saying the suit can be filed only at Mumbai leaves out Gurgaon, where the cause of action actually arose.
3. At either of the places, Mumbai or Gurgaon: The principle gives A more than one valid option, the place where the defendant carries on business or the place where the cause of action arises. Here, B's business is in Mumbai, and the purchase and delivery through B's agent happened in Gurgaon, so both places qualify under the principle.
4. Anywhere in India: The principle ties jurisdiction to specific connecting factors, defendant's residence or business, or where the cause of action arose, not to the country as a whole. Nothing in the facts supports a suit anywhere in India regardless of connection to the dispute.

Because both connecting factors, B's business in Mumbai and the cause of action in Gurgaon, are present on these facts, A has the choice of filing in either place.

So the correct answer is at either of the places, Mumbai or Gurgaon.

Answer 3

This question is really about counting how many valid forums the principle creates here, not just picking one. Each wrong option miscounts that number.

1. Gurgaon only, where the cause of action arises: This option correctly identifies Gurgaon as one valid forum but undercounts by treating it as the only one, leaving out B's place of business.
2. At Mumbai only, where B carries on business: This option makes the same undercounting error from the other side, correctly spotting Mumbai as valid but wrongly excluding Gurgaon, where the cause of action arose.
3. At either Mumbai or Gurgaon: This option counts correctly. The principle gives A more than one route, defendant's business location or the place the cause of action arose, and both Mumbai and Gurgaon independently satisfy one of those routes.
4. Anywhere in India: This option overcounts wildly, extending the forum to the entire country when the principle only recognises specific connecting factors, business location and cause of action, neither of which spans all of India.

Since B's business in Mumbai and the cause of action in Gurgaon each independently satisfy the principle, both places are correctly available to A, no more and no fewer.

Therefore, the correct answer is at either of the places, Mumbai or Gurgaon.