Report No. 253

(v) Transfer of pending matters across the board to the High Court

2.6.1 Vesting original jurisdiction in commercial disputes with High Courts and transferring all such cases to the High Court poses additional problems for the litigants.

2.6.2 In High Courts with original jurisdiction, such as the Bombay High Court, the original jurisdiction is limited to the municipal limits of the city of Mumbai. The territorial aspect of the original jurisdiction in the case of Madras and Calcutta High Courts is also limited to the specified territorial limits of the city of Chennai and Kolkata, respectively.

However, the Bill proposes to expand the territorial reach of the original jurisdiction to the whole State thereby dramatically increasing the number of cases, and also adding to the burden on the litigants. At present, a commercial dispute over Rupees One Crore between parties located in say, Pune will be filed in the appropriate civil court in Pune itself where the cause of action arises.

However, with the 2009 Bill, such a suit will have to necessarily be filed in the Principal Seat of the Bombay High Court since the Bill vests exclusive jurisdiction in respect of such suits there. Consequently, the litigants will have to face additional travel and other expenses in such cases. Therefore, the proposal for transferring the existing suits to the High Court is unworkable.