Substantial Compliance, doctrine of

Doctrine of substantial compliance provides that the procedural fault in complying strictly with a provision of the law is so minor that it does not have a bearing on the essence of the dispute and the object sought to be achieved

Applicability of the 'doctrine of substantial compliance' depends on the facts and circumstances of a dispute

Court has to determine whether the object, purpose, and intent of a statutory prerequisite have been fulfilled and, formal compliance with the same would be unimportant.

Scope.

Doctrine of substantial compliance was a doctrine in equity and it stated that if a good faith attempt was made to perform requirements of a law or contract, but failed to exactly meet the specifics, and if the essential aim of the law or contract had been met, such law or contract would still be considered as having been complied with or completed

Doctrine of substantial compliance was compliance with essential requirements of something (as a statute or contract) that satisfied its purpose or objective even though its formal requirements were not complied with

When the relevant provisions of law were complied with, substantial compliance was to be held to be sufficient and strict compliance of rules was not required as long as it was not detrimental to public policy

Substantial or no compliance of directory provisions, if existed, then an Act could not be invalidated so long as it was in accordance with the law

Where an authority or performance of formalities was delegated upon a person under a special law or was prescribed by the statute, then doctrine of substantial compliance could not be valid

Mandatory provisions required strict compliance however, for provisions that were directory in nature, the doctrine of substantial compliance was sufficient.