Respondent
A respondent is a party called upon to answer a petition, a claim, or an appeal. The respondent's name appears in the last part of the case title in a contested case.
Who is a "Respondent"?
A Respondent can be an individual, a group of individuals, the state or any juristic person like a statutory body, a body corporate or any other entity legally declared to be a juristic person. In Constitutional cases, the respondent is the party who is required to answer a petition for a court order or writ requiring the respondent to take some action, halt an activity or obey a court's direction.
Types of Respondent
A petitioner may be referred to by various designations in court documents depending on the subject matter of the case or the court where it is being heard.
A respondent meanwhile can be referred to as the following depending on the context:
| Referred to as | |
|---|---|
| Appellee | In the exercise of appellate jurisdiction, the 'appellee' can be either the claimant or the respondent from the court below. Either party can appeal the decision, thereby making their adversary the respondent. |
| Opposing Party | A respondent may be referred to as the opposing party in an application made by an applicant to enforce a legal right. |
| Intervener | A ‘Respondent’ also includes an intervener[1] when he files an intervention application in a pending suit and assists the court in the interest of justice. |
| Impleader | This is where a respondent joins a third party (impleader) into a lawsuit because that third party is liable to an original respondent. |
- ↑ Order I, Rule 2(1)(o) Supreme Court Rules, 2013 https://main.sci.gov.in/sites/default/files/Supreme%20Court%20Rules%2C%202013.pdf
