Report No. 114

3.11. Jurisdiction (Civil).-

Lastly, the question which engaged the attention of the Commission while drawing up the working paper was the limits of jurisdiction to be conferred on the new forum. The area of civil jurisdiction to be conferred on the forum did not present a very serious problem. The Commission collected statistical information from some Taluka level courts about the institution and disposal of cases and the nature of disputes brought before such courts for resolution. A common feature which appeared at that level was that the disputes emanating from rural areas centered round agricultural land, right of cultivate, tenancies, possession, boundary disputes, records in respect of cultivation, right to take water from a channel or tubewell and incidental questions arising under the various agrarian reforms Acts.

The information also revealed that there were petty disputes relating to marriage, customary divorces, maintenance, custody of children and partition of ancestral property. There were some disputes with regard to possession of farm houses, courtyards and right to graze cattle in common pastures. This information was of a revealing nature and accordingly the Commission tentatively proposed area of jurisdiction on the matter of civil disputes under various heads as set out in para 2.7 of the working paper.