Section 80 CPC notice sufficiency turns on fair reading and clear disclosure of the claim's substance.

Section 80 CPC requires a Government notice to state the proposed claim with sufficient clarity to enable the Government to decide whether to admit or resist it, but the notice is not to be read pedantically. On a fair and common-sense reading, a notice that identified the transaction, the goods supplied, the claim for godown rent, the relevant period, and the alleged non-payment by a Government officer was held adequate to convey the substance of the cause of action. The objection to maintainability therefore failed, and the suit notice was upheld as valid.

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Issues: Whether the notice under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure sufficiently stated the cause of action so as to make the suit maintainable against the Government.

Analysis: Section 80 is mandatory and requires the proposed action against the Government to be stated with enough clarity to enable it to consider whether the claim should be accepted or resisted. The notice need not be scrutinised pedantically or divorced from common sense. On a fair reading, the notice identified the transaction, the goods supplied, the claim for godown rent, the period for which rent was asserted, and the non-payment alleged against the Government through its officer. These particulars were adequate to inform the Government of the nature of the claim and the basis on which relief was sought.

Conclusion: The notice was held to be sufficient, and the objection under Section 80 failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed on the sole issue and the suit notice was upheld as valid.

Ratio Decidendi: A Section 80 notice satisfies the statutory requirement if, on a fair and common-sense reading, it conveys the substance of the claim and the material facts of the cause of action with sufficient clarity to enable the Government to decide whether to contest the demand.

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