How to File a Civil Suit in Hyderabad and Telangana

A civil suit is how you ask a civil court to decide a dispute over money, property, a contract or a legal right. In Hyderabad and Telangana, the procedure comes from the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC), the time limits from the Limitation Act, 1963, the court fee from the Telangana Court-Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956, and the courts and their money limits from the Telangana Civil Courts Act, 1972. This guide walks through each step, from choosing the court to the judgment and appeal.

Which court · Time limits · Before filing · The plaint · Court fee and legal aid · After filing · Urgent relief · Commercial and summary suits

Which court to file in

Under section 9 of the CPC, civil courts can try all suits of a civil nature unless a law expressly or impliedly bars them. Three questions decide the right court.

• Value (pecuniary jurisdiction): section 15 requires every suit to be filed in the court of the lowest grade competent to try it. Under the Telangana Civil Courts Act, suits valued above Rs 50 lakh are tried at the District Judge level; in Hyderabad, that is the Chief Judge or an Additional Chief Judge of the City Civil Court. Under the Telangana Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2024, in force from 1 September 2024 (G.O.Ms.No.74, Law, dated 20 September 2024), suits valued above Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 50 lakh go to a Senior Civil Judge, and suits valued up to Rs 10 lakh go to a Junior Civil Judge.
• Place (territorial jurisdiction): suits about immovable property, such as recovery, partition or other rights in land or a building, are filed where the property is situated (section 16). For a wrong to a person or to movable property, you may sue where the wrong was done or where the defendant lives or works (section 19). Other suits are filed where the defendant actually and voluntarily resides, carries on business or personally works for gain, or where the cause of action arose wholly or in part (section 20).
• Subject: some disputes go to special forums instead, and commercial disputes of Rs 3 lakh and above follow the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (see below).

The main civil court complexes around Hyderabad, as listed on their official district court websites:

• City Civil Court, Hyderabad: for suits arising in Hyderabad district. Purana Haveli, Chatta Bazar, Hyderabad 500002.
• Ranga Reddy District Court Complex: NTR Nagar, L.B. Nagar, Ranga Reddy district 500074.
• Medchal-Malkajgiri District Court Complex: near Old Vegetable Market, Kushaiguda, Medchal-Malkajgiri district 500062.

Within each district, civil cases go to the court complex for the area concerned. In Hyderabad district, the City Civil Court’s main complex at Purana Haveli covers the older parts of the city, roughly up to the Tolichowki and Shaikpet areas, and Secunderabad has its own court complex. Ranga Reddy district also has a court complex at Rajendranagar, in addition to L.B. Nagar. Confirm the court for the area where the property is or where the cause of action arose.

Time limits for filing

Under section 3 of the Limitation Act, and subject to sections 4 to 24, a suit filed after the prescribed period must be dismissed, even if the defendant does not raise the point. Those sections can extend or restart the period: for example, a written acknowledgment of liability signed by the debtor (or their authorised agent) before the period expires (section 18), or a part payment made by the debtor (or their authorised agent) before it expires where the payment is acknowledged in the debtor’s handwriting or in a writing signed by the debtor (section 19), starts a fresh period. Section 5, which allows delay to be condoned for sufficient cause, applies only to appeals and applications, not to suits. Common periods:

A suit is instituted, for limitation, when the plaint is presented to the proper officer (section 3(2)).

Before filing

• Suits against the Government, or against a public officer for an act done in an official capacity: section 80 of the CPC bars a suit until two months after written notice is delivered to the specified authority (for the State Government, a Secretary to the Government or the District Collector). The plaint must state that notice was given. Where urgent relief is needed, the court may grant leave to file without notice, but it will not grant relief until the Government or officer has had a reasonable opportunity to show cause (section 80(2)).
• Commercial disputes: pre-institution mediation is required before filing unless the suit contemplates urgent interim relief (section 12A, Commercial Courts Act, as amended in 2018).
• Other disputes: apart from section 80 and commercial mediation, check whether the law governing your particular claim requires a notice before suit.
• Documents: gather the agreement, receipts, title papers, correspondence and any other documents the claim rests on, since documents in the plaintiff’s possession or power that the plaintiff sues on or relies on must be listed and produced with the plaint, and a document not produced then cannot be received in evidence without the court’s leave (Order VII rule 14).

The plaint

A suit is started by presenting a plaint (section 26 and Order IV). The plaint is presented in duplicate to the court or the officer appointed for that purpose, and it must comply with Orders VI and VII. Under Order VII rule 1, it must contain:

• the name of the court;
• the name, description and place of residence of the plaintiff and the defendant;
• where a party is a minor or of unsound mind, a statement to that effect;
• the facts constituting the cause of action and when it arose;
• the facts showing that the court has jurisdiction;
• the relief claimed;
• any amount set off or relinquished; and
• the value of the subject matter for jurisdiction and for court fee.

The plaint is verified at the foot by the party, stating which paragraphs are true to their own knowledge and which are based on information believed to be true, and it is signed and dated with the place. The person verifying it must also file an affidavit supporting the pleadings (Order VI rule 15), and the facts in the plaint must be proved by affidavit (section 26(2)).

Under Order VII rule 11, the court rejects a plaint that does not disclose a cause of action, that is undervalued or insufficiently stamped and not corrected within the time allowed, that appears from its own statements to be barred by law, or that is not filed in duplicate. Rejection does not by itself prevent a fresh plaint on the same cause of action (Order VII rule 13).

Court fee and legal aid

Court fee in Telangana is governed by the Telangana Court-Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956. The basis depends on the kind of suit:

• Money suits, including damages and compensation: on the amount claimed (section 20).
• Suits for immovable property generally: on three-fourths of the market value (section 21).
• Declaration with possession: on the market value of movable property, or three-fourths of the market value of immovable property, or Rs 300, whichever is higher (section 24(a)).
• Declaration with consequential injunction about immovable property: on half the market value or Rs 300, whichever is higher (section 24(b)).
• Injunction about immovable property where the plaintiff’s title is denied: on half the market value or Rs 200, whichever is higher (section 26(a)). Other injunctions are charged on the valuation in the plaint or by the court, whichever is higher (section 26(c)).

The fee itself is calculated on the stepped ad valorem scale in Schedule I, Article 1 of the Act. Have the valuation and fee checked when the plaint is drafted, since an undervalued or under-stamped plaint can be rejected.

Refund on referral under section 89: where the court refers the parties to arbitration, conciliation, judicial settlement, Lok Adalat or mediation under section 89 of the CPC, the plaintiff is entitled to a certificate to receive back the full court fee paid on the plaint (section 66-A of the Telangana Act).

If you cannot afford the fee: a person who does not have sufficient means to pay the court fee may file as an indigent person under Order XXXIII of the CPC, after an inquiry into their means. The fee is deferred, not waived: if the suit succeeds, the court fee is recovered from the party the decree orders to pay it, and if the suit fails or permission is withdrawn, the court orders the plaintiff to pay it (Order XXXIII rules 10 and 11). Separately, under section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, free legal services are available to, among others, women and children, members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, persons with disability, industrial workmen, persons in custody, victims of trafficking or disaster, and persons whose income is below the limit set by the State. The Telangana State Legal Services Authority’s legal aid page states an annual income limit of Rs 3,00,000 (checked 25 October 2026) and says aid covers counsel at the State’s expense and court fee. Aid is given where the Authority is also satisfied that the person has a prima facie case (section 13). Applications can be made to the legal services authority for the district where the case is to be filed.

After filing

1. Summons: the court issues summons to the defendant, to be served on a day not beyond thirty days from institution of the suit (section 27). A copy of the plaint goes with it (Order V).
2. Written statement: the defendant must file a written statement within 30 days of service. The court may allow a later date for reasons recorded in writing, but not later than 90 days from service (Order VIII rule 1). In Kailash v Nanhku (6 April 2005), the Supreme Court held that this limit is directory, not mandatory, but that time beyond 90 days should be allowed only by way of exception, in exceptional circumstances, for reasons recorded, and costs may be imposed. In commercial suits the outer limit is 120 days, after which the defendant loses the right to file it.
3. Settlement options: after recording the parties’ admissions and denials, the court directs them to choose one of the settlement methods in section 89: arbitration, conciliation, judicial settlement including Lok Adalat, or mediation (Order X rules 1A to 1C). If the attempt fails, the suit returns to court.
4. Issues: the court frames issues on each material point of fact or law that one side asserts and the other denies (Order XIV).
5. Evidence: the plaintiff ordinarily begins. The examination-in-chief of each witness is given by affidavit, followed by cross-examination, and written arguments may be filed (Order XVIII).
6. Judgment and decree: judgment is pronounced in open court; the court is to endeavour to do so within 30 days of the end of the hearing, and ordinarily not beyond 60 days. A decree follows the judgment (Order XX).
7. Appeal: unless a law provides otherwise, an appeal lies from every original decree, including an ex parte decree, but not from a decree passed with the parties’ consent (section 96). The appeal court is fixed by the Telangana Civil Courts Act and depends on which court passed the decree and the value of the suit. Appeals from the Chief Judge or an Additional Chief Judge of the City Civil Court, or from a District Court, go to the High Court. In the City Civil Court, Hyderabad, appeals from a Junior Civil Judge go to the Chief Judge, and appeals from a Senior Civil Judge go to the Chief Judge where the value is not more than Rs 35 lakh, and to the High Court otherwise (section 9, as amended in 2024). In other districts, appeals from a Junior Civil Judge ordinarily go to the District Court, and appeals from a Senior Civil Judge go to the District Court where the value is not more than Rs 35 lakh (as amended in 2020; the Telangana State Judicial Academy’s guide gives 21 September 2020 as the date it took effect) and to the High Court otherwise (section 17).

Urgent relief: temporary injunctions

While a suit is pending, the court may grant a temporary injunction under Order XXXIX rules 1 and 2 where, for example, the property in dispute is in danger of being wasted, damaged or sold, the defendant threatens to dispose of property to defraud creditors, or the defendant threatens to dispossess the plaintiff or cause injury in relation to the property. An injunction may also be sought to restrain a breach of contract or other injury. An application is filed with the suit or during it.

Commercial and summary suits

Commercial suits: the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 applies to commercial disputes, which include ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers and traders, construction contracts, agreements about immovable property used exclusively in trade or commerce, partnership, franchising, intellectual property, sale of goods and services, and insurance, where the specified value is Rs 3 lakh or more. Value includes interest up to the date of filing, or the market value of the property (section 12).

• Pre-institution mediation: as the Act stands after its 2018 amendment, a suit that does not contemplate urgent interim relief cannot be filed until the plaintiff has exhausted pre-institution mediation (section 12A). The mediating Authority is to complete the process within three months of the application, extendable by two months with the parties’ consent, and that time does not count for limitation. A settlement reached has the status of an arbitral award on agreed terms. The Mediation Act, 2023 replaces this section with a pre-litigation mediation scheme from the date the Central Government notifies for that provision, so confirm which version is in force before filing.
• Where to apply: under the 2018 scheme, the State and District Legal Services Authorities are the authorities for this mediation. Under the Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement Rules, 2018, the application is made in Form 1 with an application fee of Rs 1,000, and the parties also pay a one-time mediation fee, shared equally, that depends on the amount of the claim (rules 3 and 11).
• Stricter procedure: pleadings must be verified by a Statement of Truth (Order VI rule 15A as applied to commercial disputes), and the 120-day written statement limit applies.

Summary suits (Order XXXVII): suits on bills of exchange, hundis or promissory notes, or suits only to recover a debt or liquidated money demand arising on a written contract, an enactment (where the sum is a fixed sum or in the nature of a debt other than a penalty) or a guarantee, can be filed under the summary procedure. Order XXXVII applies to High Courts, City Civil Courts and Courts of Small Causes, and also to other civil courts, subject to any notification by the High Court restricting or varying the categories of suits it covers in those other courts.

Related guides: property disputes, cheque bounce cases, legal heir certificate in Hyderabad and the Hyderabad legal help directory.

For a discussion about a civil suit with Musab Hashmi & Associates, call +91 89771 24916 or send an enquiry. Do not include identity numbers or copies of documents in the first message.

General legal information, not legal advice. Commencement of the 2024 amendment and the allocation of courts by area confirmed by the advocate on 27 October 2026. Checked on 25 October 2026 against the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (India Code text), the Limitation Act, 1963, the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 as amended in 2018 (not including the substitution of section 12A by the Mediation Act, 2023, whose commencement could not be confirmed) and the Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement Rules, 2018, the Telangana Civil Courts Act, 1972 and its amending Acts, the Telangana Court-Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956, the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the Supreme Court judgment cited, and the official websites of the Telangana State Legal Services Authority and the City Civil Court, Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri district courts.