CPC 1908 § 20 — Other suits to be instituted where defendants reside or cause of action arises

Statutory text (English)

Subject to
the limitations aforesaid, every suit shall be instituted in a Court within the local limits of whose
jurisdiction—
(a) the defendant, or each of the defendants where there are more than one, at the time
of the commencement of the suit, actually and voluntarily resides, or carries on
business, or personally works for gain ; or
(b) any of the defendants, where there are more than one, at the time of the
commencement of the suit, actually and voluntarily resides, or carries on business,
or personally works for gain, provided that in such case either the leave of the Court
is given, or the defendants who do not reside, or carryon business, or personally
work for gain, as aforesaid, acquiesce in such institution ; or
(c) the cause of action, wholly or in part, arises.

Explanation I.— Where a person has permanent dwelling at one place and also a temporary
residence at another place, he shall be deemed to reside at both places in respect of any cause of
action arising at the place where he has such temporary residence.

Explanation II.— A corporation shall be deemed to carry on business at its sole or principal office
in 1[Pakistan] or, in respect of any cause of action arising at any place where it has also a subordinate office,
at such place.
Illustrations
(a) A is a tradesman in 2[Lahore]. B carries on business in 1[Karachi], B, by his agent
in 2[Lahore], buys goods of A and requests A to deliver them to the 1[Pakistan
International Airways]. A delivers the goods accordingly in 2[Lahore]. A may sue
B for the price of the goods either in 2[Lahore] where the cause of action has arisen,
or in 1[Karachi], where B carries on business.
(b) A resides at 1[Murree], B at 2[Lahore], and C at 1[Karachi], A, B and C being
together at 1[Bahawalpur], B and C make a joint promissory note payable on
demand, and deliver it to A. A may sue B and C 1[Bahawalpur,] where the cause of
action arose. He may also sue them at 2[Lahore], where B resides, or at 1[Karachi],
where C resides; but in each of these cases, if the non-resident defendant objects, the suit
cannot proceed without the leave of the Court.

Source and verification

Source citation: CPC (Act V of 1908) s.20: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, 1908' (Act No. V of 1908; portal status 'Under Review'; reflects amendments through the CPC (Amendment) Act, 2023 incl. inserted s.159), p. 18, 19, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

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Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 18, 19) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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