Injunctions

Injunction

The law of injunctions is covered under various Relief Acts and is implemented as per the Civil Procedure Code.

An injunction is a remedy granted through the court that restricts the commission of a wrong threatened or the continuation of a wrongful activities already begun. If an individual fails to conform to an injunction granted through a Court, then the individual can face criminal or civil fines or contempt of court.

Injunctions and specific performance

The jurisdiction to grant injunctions could generally be found in sections 50-55 of the Specific Relief Act 1950 (Act 137), Order 29 of the Rules of Court 2012 and the Common Law. 

Requisites of an Application for Injunction

An application for injunction should be furnished if:

•    The claimant has a strong prima-facie case, which has the potential for succeeding.

•    The balance of the convenience or that of inconvenience is in favour of the claimant,

•    Non-granting of a temporary or permanent injunction shall force the claimant to suffer an irreparable damage.

Types of Injunction

The different types of injunction RE:

•    Preliminary injunction

•    Preventive Injunction

•    Mandatory injunction

•    Temporary restraining order

•    Permanent injunction

Preliminary Injunction

A preliminary injunction, which is also recognized as an ad-interim injunction, is assigned towards a claimant prior to a trial. It is awarded towards preserving the subject matter in its existing condition towards preventing any dissolution of the claimant’s rights and thus renders the possibility of immediate relief.

Preventive Injunctions

A preventive injunction is an adjudication that forces a person towards abstaining from doing an action that is preventive, prohibitive or negative. The injunction is intended towards preventing a threatened injury, preserve the status quo, as well as reserve the continued commission of a continuing wrong.

Mandatory Injunction

A mandatory injunction directs the respondent to perform an act and it is considered as the most rigorous of all the injunctions. A mandatory injunction prohibits a respondent from continuing a wrong act which has already occurred at the time when the injunction is issued. The intention of a mandatory injunction is to restore a wrongful state of things towards the rightful order.

At the time of issuing a mandatory injunction, the Courts will take into consideration, whether the claimant can be adequately compensated or whether the grant of an injunction was required to do justice.

Temporary Restraining Order

A temporary restraining order is valid until the period of restraining order draws towards a closure. The court awards it for preserving the status quo of the matter until the hearing of an application for a temporary injunction. It seeks to prevent any instance of unnecessary and irreparable injury.

Permanent Injunction

A permanent injunction is issued at the time of final judgement and is meant for granting a final relief towards the claimant.

Contempt of Court

The provisions of an injunction must be comply with by the respective individuals, failing which the respondent is legally responsible to be punished for Contempt of Court after performing the required trial or hearing. Such a scenario will force the defaulter towards remitting the prescribed penal charge and face imprisonment. The quantum of punishment must be decided through considering the type of default.

Prohibitory Injunction

A prohibitory injunction is granted by a court, prohibits the respondent from doing a wrongful act that will be an infringement of the claimant’s legal rights. For instance, prohibitory injunctions could be used towards restraining a breach of contract or towards protecting disclosure of confidential information.

Interlocutory or Interim Injunction

Interlocutory injunction is a kind of temporary injunction, which is functioning during the pendency of the case before the court. Therefore, an interlocutory injunction is utilized to compel or prevent an individual from carrying out certain actions, pending the final determination of the matter. The primary intention of using an interlocutory injunction is to preserve matters in the status quo.

Injunctions in contract law

Injunctions are awarded in cases which involve breach of contract and are often given in lieu of financial damages. The non-breaching individual might even be required to choose between a financial damages award and an injunction.

Penalty

If an individual fails to follow the terms of an injunction order, they would face certain consequences. In a contract case, this would commonly be money damages. For instance, an individual might be fined money every day that they fail to follow the court order. An individual could also be held in contempt of court.

FAQ’s

How do an individual know if he is entitled to an injunction?

Before a Court would consider granting an injunction, there are 3 general principles which should be established on the facts, namely;

1.    There is a applicable cause of action, and the other individual is either threatening to invade (or had invaded) the equitable rights or is threatening to behave (or has behaved) in an unacceptable way

2.    The court thinks that it will be just and convenient to grant the injunction, and no equitable bars exist for example unreasonable delay or behaviour on the part of the claimant;

3.    Damages will not make an satisfactory remedy in redress of the dispute

In what circumstances could an individual apply for an injunction?

An injunction might be necessary for preserving or stopping the loss of an asset, protect against personal injury, preventing loss or damage towards reputation as well as safeguard commerce or personal interests.

An application for an injunction could be made when Court proceedings have begun. Alternatively, the Court could grant an injunction before the start of Court trials if the matter is urgent or if it essential in the interests of justice.

An injunction made before a case goes to trial is recognized as an "interlocutory" or "interim" injunction. It could be expressed to remain in force for a specific period of time. Otherwise, it remains effective until the case comes to trial or until the Court makes any other order. When the case comes to trial, the Court would decide whether or not to make a "final" injunction.

What is the procedure for applying for an injunction?

The process for applying for an injunction would differ relying on whether the application is to be made with or without notice towards the other side.

An application is made to the Court will be dealing with the main claim. The prerequisite for a formal application notice might be dispensed within the case of a without notice application.

The application notice should mention what order the claimant is looking for, the reasons why the claimant is looking for the order and the date, time and place of any hearing.

An application for an interim injunction should be supported by evidence. This would generally be in the form of a witness statement or affidavit which includes all material facts of which the Court must be made aware, as well as attaching relevant documents.

What are the defenses to an Injunction?

The breaching individual might sometimes be able to raise a defense if the claimant is looking for an injunction against them. This contains the following defenses:

 A claimant cannot get an injunction if they have engaged in similar wrongdoing as the respondent. Therefore, if the claimant also breached a contract this defense might be available.

This is available when a claimant intentionally delays asking the court for an injunction as well as the delay negatively affects the respondent.

An injunction might not be enforceable if it causes the respondent extreme or undue hardship, like costing the respondent a large sum.

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Author:

eStartIndia Team