Published on: February 14, 2024 at 16:25 IST
Court: High Court of Delhi
Citation: Namita Gupta v. Suraj Holdings Ltd. (2024)
Honourable High Court of Delhi has held that neither High Court of a State nor the Principal District and Sessions Judge can transfer a Commercial Case involving commercial dispute which was wrongly filed before the Ordinary Civil Court to the Commercial Court under the aegis of Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. It is further held that Section 15 of the Commercial Court Act, 2015 is only applicable for the pending suits before the amendment which came effective from 3rd May 2018. It is held that only recourse available in such scenario is invoking Order VII Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 i.e., Return of Plaint for refiling after completing statutory compliance in accordance with the mandate of Commercial Court Act, 2015.
50. From an analysis of the above judgments, it would be evident that:—
(a) The Commercial Courts Act provides for a special format and specific requirements in relation to the pleadings and affidavits, in the form of a Statement of Truth, verification, among others. It further requires mandatory compliance with provisions under Section 12-A of the Act in the form of a Pre-Institution Mediation;
(b) If a Suit raises a Commercial Dispute of a Specified Value, the Ordinary Civil Court shall have no jurisdiction to entertain the same, and it must, therefore, return the plaint in exercise of its power under Order VII Rule 10 of the CPC;
(c) On return of the plaint, the plaintiff may, after making necessary corrections in the pleadings, present the plaint before the Court of competent jurisdiction.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra