A cause of action forms the factual and legal foundation for the relief sought in a civil suit—it comprises every essential fact that entitles the plaintiff to the remedy claimed. The relief must directly flow from the cause of action; if the facts set out in the plaint fail to support the prayer, the suit becomes defective under Order VII Rule 11 CPC. Under Order II Rule 2 of the CPC, plaintiffs must include all reliefs arising from the same cause of action within a single suit, since claiming only partial reliefs without obtaining the court’s leave results in procedural forfeiture of omitted claims. Once a plaintiff intentionally omits or relinquishes part of a claim or associated relief, they are barred from filing a subsequent suit for the omitted portion, as reaffirmed in Swamy Atmananda v. Sri Ramakrishnan Tapovanam (2005) and Sonic Surgical v. National Insurance Co. Ltd. (2010). Therefore, lawyers must carefully align factual pleadings with every entitlement under law and, where necessary, explicitly seek leave under Rule 2(3) to preserve the right to claim deferred reliefs.
