In the capital all District Bar Association’ s co-ordination committee have decided to appeal to the Delhi High Court for granting unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction to trial courts in civil cases.
The committee’s decision comes a day after the High Court gave a nod to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of Delhi District Courts from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 crore.
According to Nitin Ahlawat Honorary Secretary of Delhi Bar Association, “We have written to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court thanking him for meeting our long-pending demand as we had been agitating on the issue for long”
In a meeting of the co-ordination committee, the decision was taken to press for unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction.
Ahlawat said, “We have also decided to press for unlimited jurisdiction now as we believe in the concept of justice at door step”
He also added “It is only in Delhi that the district courts have a fixed pecuniary jurisdiction. In other states, district courts have unlimited jurisdiction.”
He said the number of judges in the district courts are much higher than in the High Court and the civil courts here are not that burdened.
Hence raising the pecuniary jurisdiction is a welcome step in bringing down the number of pending cases and also reducing the burden on the High Court, Ahlawat said.
Litigants will benefit from the process.
He also said “it is not a tussle between the High Court and the district courts. Instead, it is all about bringing justice at the door step.”
Only few high courts have retained the original jurisdiction in civil matters. It is time that High Court give up this original civil jurisdiction.