Complying with the provisions of a recent ordinance on commercial courts and division, a court here has transferred to the Delhi High Court two commercial dispute suits having a value of over Rs one crore.
As per the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015 all pending commercial disputes having value of over Rs one crore are required to be transferred to the courts/divisions, i.E. In the Delhi High Court, constituted under the ordinance.
The court’s order, the first since passing of the ordinance, transferred the two connected suits arising out of the dispute of commercial property in Karol Bagh here.
The court noted that the ordinance provides commercial divisions to be set up in those high courts which exercise ordinary original civil jurisdiction, i.e. The high courts of Delhi, Bombay, Kolkata, Madras and Himachal Pradesh.
With this, no commercial courts have been set up in Delhi and only commercial divisions are being set up in Delhi High Court having ordinary original civil jurisdiction, it said.
“… I hereby hold that all pending commercial disputes above specified value as determined under Section 12 of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015 are required to be transferred to courts/ divisions so constituted under the Ordinance,” Additional District Judge Kamini Lau said.
The judge said that in these cases, the specified value was of more than Rs one crore, i.E. Rs 10 crore and “since no commercial court has been created in Delhi in view of the provisions of Section 3 of the ordinance and this court is no longer vested with the jurisdiction to try the commercial dispute above specified value of Rs one crore, the same are required to be transferred to the commercial division.”
The court was also informed by the parties that by a November 6 order, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice has constituted the commercial division to hear and dispose of all suits/ applications relating to commercial disputes of the specified value of not less than Rs one crore.
It directed that both the suits be placed before the Registrar General of Delhi High Court for necessary orders and asked the parties to appear in the high court on November 30.
As per the ordinance, commercial disputes include disputes relating to transactions between merchants, bankers, traders, financiers, intellectual property disputes and contractual disputes relating to commerce, licensing and distribution agreements.
