Pecuniary jurisdiction: District, High Court lawyers to continue strike

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Effectively, all suits pending in the Delhi High Court, which are valued below Rs 2 lakh, will have to be sent to the six district courts if the Bill is also passed by the Lok Sabha.

At present, all suits above Rs 20 lakh are heard by the High Court. Once the Bill is passed, out of the 60,000 cases pending in the Delhi High Court, about 12,000 cases will be transferred to the 11 district courts.

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA), in a notice issued to all High Court lawyers, has asked them to abstain from work on Friday and Monday in protest against the Bill.

The notice, signed by DHCBA Secretary Abhijat, alleges that the Law Minister had given a “solemn assurance” to the DHCBA that the amendment will not be introduced in the Parliament as a stand-alone measure. Instead, Abhijat said the minister had assured them that the Bill would be tabled along with the Commercial Courts Bill, 2015.

“When the pecuniary jurisdiction Bill was earlier taken up by the House, the same was deferred as the overwhelming sense of the House was it should be taken up only with the Commercial Divisions Bill,” the DHCBA notice said.

High Court lawyers want the two bills tabled together because the Commercial Courts Bill suggests that high courts in the country will hear commercial cases starting from Rs 1 crore, instead of Rs 2 crore.

Meanwhile, district court lawyers, who have remained on strike since April 22 to “force the government” to pass the Bill, have decided to continue their strike till the end of the Parliamentary session.

“The Rajya Sabha has passed this Bill even when there are opposition parties in the House. There is no reason for the BJP to not pass this Bill, when they are in majority in the Lok Sabha,” advocate R K Wadhwa, chairman of the All Delhi district court lawyers coordination committee, said.

“Lawyers expected the Bill to be passed today. Now we will continue the strike till the end of this session or till the Bill is passed in the Lok Sabha,” Wadhwa said.