The central legal point established in the judgment is the determination of 'cause of action' for the court's jurisdiction, emphasizing the substance of the matter and the integral role of the service of notice in establishing the cause of action.

P.A. Mohammed, J.

In all these cases a preliminary objection has been raised by the learned counsel appearing for the respondents. The objection is that this Court has no power or jurisdiction to entertain these Writ Petitions under Arts.226 and 227 of the Constitution of India and hence we have to decide this question at the outset,

2. The Regional Manager of the Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd., Cochin issued demand notices to the petitioners-employees to remit the amount alleged to have been misappropriated by them on the basis of an enquiry report submitted by the Assistant Director of Handloom and Textiles, Nagarcoil. The appellant in Writ Appeal No. 2107/98 and the petitioners in O.P. Nos. 7774 and 8182 of 1998 are the three employees among others, we are concerned in these cases.

3. On behalf of the respondents it was contended that the cause of action for these cases arose outside the State of Kerala, First of all we have to find out the meaning of the expression 'cause of action"? Unless its meaning is known and the width of it is discerned the perceptivity may not be clear. Brett, J, said in Jay Cooke v. Henry S. Gt f/ (1873)LR8CP107):

"Cause of action' has been held from the earliest time to mean every fact which is material to be proved to entitle the plaintiff to succeed, - every fact which the defendant would have a right to traverse". It is a bundle of facts which gives the plaintiff a right to relief against the defendant. In the wider sense they mean the necessary conditions for the maintenance of the suit, including not only the infraction of the right but the infraction coupled with the right itself. But it does not comprise every piece of evidence which is necessary to prove each fact, but every fact which is necessary to be proved to enable the plaintiff to obtain a decree. (See Mohammed Khalil Khan v. Mahbub Ali Mian (AIR 1949 PC 78), Deep Narain Singh v. Dietert (ILR (1904) 31 Cal. 274) and In re D. Lakshminarayana Chettiar (AIR 1954 mad 594). Lord Watson observed in Chand Kour v. Partab Singh ((1889) 16 Cal. 98) thus:

"Now the cause of action has no relation whatever to the defence which may be set up by the defendant, nor does it depend upon the character of the relief prayed for by the plaintiff. It refers entirely to the grounds set forth in the plaint as the cause of action, or in other words, to the media upon which the plaintiff asks the court to arrive at a conclusion in his favour."

Ultimately what emerges is, the cause of action has to be determined with reference to the facts of each case (L Gupta v. Vishnu Baburao Sarvate (AIR 1956 Nagpur 204) and with reference to the substance rather than the form of the action (Krishna Behari Roy v. Brojeswari Chowdranee (LR Vol. II (1874-5) - Indian Appeals 283).

4. Article 226(2) as amended by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 is as follows: "(2) The power conferred by clause (1) to issue directions, orders or writs to any Government, authority or person may also be exercised by any High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to the territories within which the cause of action, wholly or in part, arises for the exercise of such power, notwithstanding that the seat of such Government or authority or the residence of such person is not within those territories".

On a combined reading of clauses (1) and (2) of Art.226 it can well be said that a writ can be issued against a Government person or authority if (a) its seat is within the High Court's jurisdiction or (b) the cause of action has arisen wholly or in part within the High Court's jurisdiction. Under clause (2) the High Court gets jurisdiction when the cause of action arises wholly or in part within its territorial limits. This position is no way different from the filing of the suit in court. Under S.20(c) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, every suit shall be instituted in a court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the cause of action wholl