Bar Council seeks transfer of civil suits from HC

The possible transfer of civil suits to lower courts is based on the need to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of the City Civil and Sessions Court to keep pace with the manifold rise in the value of Mumbai’s properties ever since the Bombay High Court came into existence in 1862.

The High Courts in Bombay,Madras and Calcutta,that came into existence under the Charter of the Queen of England,follow a division between the original and appellate side jurisdiction. While civil disputes originating in Mumbai are heard on the original side of the Bombay High Court,appeals against an order of a subordinate court are heard on the appellate side of the court.

In 1862,the Bombay HC had original side jurisdiction to hear cases involving disputes of over Rs 10,000. This was raised to Rs 50,000 in 1950. The City Civil Court still has pecuniary jurisdiction to hear suits involving a dispute of only less than Rs 50,000.

Urging the CM to implement the transfer of jurisdiction,the BCMG stated in a letter dated March 9,“In the city of Mumbai,property prices have gone up a few hundred times in the last 20-25 years. A flat in south Mumbai would not cost less than Rs 5 crore. Offices and shops are equally expensive. The story in the suburbs of Mumbai is no different. Considering this,limits of pecuniary jurisdiction of trial courts in Mumbai have been absurdly low.”

The letter seeks that the step be taken under the City Civil Court and Bombay Court of Small Causes (Enhancement of Jurisdiction) Act,1986. The Act was contested right up to the Supreme Court,which upheld its constitutional validity in 2005. However,the state government was given time to transfer the original side jurisdiction to the City Civil Court until it had set up necessary infrastructure and filled the vacant posts of judges in the subordinate courts. BCMG member Anil Singh had also raised the issue of the implementation of the Act at a state lawyers’ conference in Nashik in January.

On January 19,the then Registrar General of the Bombay HC M N Gilani has stated in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court that the Full House (of judges of the Bombay HC) had accepted the report of the judges’ infrastructure committee that expressed satisfaction over the new courtrooms constructed and decided to make a suggestion to the state government to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of the City Civil Court from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 crore. However,the HC took a view that all cases under the Arbitration Act and the Intellectual Property Act will continue to be heard by the HC in its original side jurisdiction.

“If the suits having value up to Rs 5 crore are transferred to the Bombay City Civil Court,they will be exclusively assigned to the 10-15 judges of that court,which would ensure their expeditious disposal,” Gilani had stated in his affidavit. The BCMG has,however,stated in their letter,“There is absolutely no justification for retaining matters above the value of Rs 5 crore in the High Court. Having regard to the value of the properties in the city of Mumbai,most of the property litigation in the future is likely to be of value exceeding Rs 5 crore. Jurisdiction of civil courts outside Mumbai is unlimited and there is no reason why City Civil Court judges,who are district judges,cannot handle matters above Rs 5 crore.”

CLEARING THE BACKLOG
* The Bombay HC has a total of 3,51,297 pending cases
* The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) is seeking the transfer of the entire original side pendency of the Bombay HC (78,548 cases that are regarding disputes of over Rs 50,000) to the City Civil Court to accelerate the process of justice
* The BCMG passed a resolution on February 13 this year supporting unlimited jurisdiction for the City Civil Court in Mumbai
* The BCMG’s letter to the CM states the request is supported by 95 per cent of the 20,000 lawyers from the Advocates Association of Western India,City Civil and Sessions Court Bar and the Small Causes Court Bar
* Following improvement in the infrastructure of the lower courts,the strength of judges in the City Civil and Sessions Court has been increased to 84 and there are 83 courtrooms on the court premises at the main building in Fort,Sewree and Dindoshi that could help ease the burden on the Bombay HC judges