A suit for recovery of money can be filed in a Civil Court. Recovery of money does not mean suit for damages or compensation. Recovery of money means that you are filing a suit for claiming recovery of that money which is owed to you by way of:

• Bills of exchange, hundies, and promissory notes
• Recovery of debt or loan based on a written contract or a guarantee

Suits for recovery of money are meant to be dealt with by the courts in Summary Manner, i.e. according to Summary Procedure as prescribed under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908.

In a Summary Proceedings, the defendant (person against whom recovery is being sought) has to appear within a period of 10 days from the date of receipt of notice (Service of Summons).

The Defendant has no write to file a reply or written statement to the Plaint without the leave of the court. This means that he is required to file an affidavit before the court seeking order from the court to allow him to file a written statement or reply. This is called an affidavit for leave to defend.

In the affidavit for leave to defend, the Defendant has to convince the court that there is a triable issue and the same cannot be decided in a summary proceeding. This means that the Defendant has to inform the court about a dispute between the parties and only if the court is satisfied that there is a valid dispute between the parties and the same cannot be decided immediately in a summary manner, then the court may grant leave to defend and then the suit is tried in the normal manner as prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure 1908.

However, in most cases, it is very difficult for the Defendant to satisfy the court and get a leave to defend. Therefore, most of the cases, are decided in the summary manner after the affidavit of leave to defend is rejected and the court passes a judgment decreed in favour of the plaintiff (the person who has filed the suit claiming recovery of money).