In civil cases, while passing any order and decree, the court has the discretion to grant costs. Section 35 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that subject to such conditions and limitations as may be prescribed and to the provisions of law in force at the time, the costs of and incidence to all suits shall be at the discretion of the court and the court shall have full power to determine by whom or out of what property and to what extent such costs are to be paid and to give all necessary directions for the purposes mentioned.
The expression 'costs of this suit' means all costs incurred in the suit. Therefore, if one of the defendants is ordered to pay the plaintiff's costs of the suit and no qualifying words are added, the costs includes those which the plaintiff has incurred by impleading another defendant against whom suit has been dismissed with costs. Thus the word 'costs' included costs incidental to the suit.
The court may direct parties to bear their costs where the law is settled for the first time, where litigation has arisen because of ambiguity in the statute, where the court itself has been in error, where the appellant does not press part of his claim, where the case involves important questions of law for decisions, where the case is a test case and the unsuccessful respondent has had to bear the brunt of the fight, when the question is related to interpretations of recent Statutes or where the court clarifies a confused judicial situation.
The principle is that costs follow the event, that is, the successful party is entitled to have the costs of the litigation. However, it is subject to various limitations and restraints which the court itself imposes upon itself while granting costs to the winning party. Though the winning party gets costs as awarded by the court, these do not fully make up for the expenses incurred by the successful party, as such expenses are usually in excess of the costs awarded. Costs are taxed according to the rules framed by the High Court. The costs of each proceeding/suit may be quantified by the court in the proceedings; otherwise costs granted are taxed and quantified by the taxing master according to the rules framed by the High Court. This is known as Taxation of cost. Every court has an officer who is empowered to tax costs if they are not already quantified by the court while passing the order.
The expression 'costs of this suit' means all costs incurred in the suit. Therefore, if one of the defendants is ordered to pay the plaintiff's costs of the suit and no qualifying words are added, the costs includes those which the plaintiff has incurred by impleading another defendant against whom suit has been dismissed with costs. Thus the word 'costs' included costs incidental to the suit.
The court may direct parties to bear their costs where the law is settled for the first time, where litigation has arisen because of ambiguity in the statute, where the court itself has been in error, where the appellant does not press part of his claim, where the case involves important questions of law for decisions, where the case is a test case and the unsuccessful respondent has had to bear the brunt of the fight, when the question is related to interpretations of recent Statutes or where the court clarifies a confused judicial situation.
The principle is that costs follow the event, that is, the successful party is entitled to have the costs of the litigation. However, it is subject to various limitations and restraints which the court itself imposes upon itself while granting costs to the winning party. Though the winning party gets costs as awarded by the court, these do not fully make up for the expenses incurred by the successful party, as such expenses are usually in excess of the costs awarded. Costs are taxed according to the rules framed by the High Court. The costs of each proceeding/suit may be quantified by the court in the proceedings; otherwise costs granted are taxed and quantified by the taxing master according to the rules framed by the High Court. This is known as Taxation of cost. Every court has an officer who is empowered to tax costs if they are not already quantified by the court while passing the order.
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