Jurisdiction of courts in India are distributed by the kind of cases they deal with for example as in this article we would study about the jurisdiction of courts as per the code of civil procedure which is divides themselves in territorial, pecuniary, exclusive, equitable and as per the subject matter keeping in mind the geographical identity of the object of the suit, the amount involved in the suit, the petitioner or the appellant comfort and the nature of the suit.
KEYWORDS
- Code of Civil Procedure,
- Jurisdiction
- Civil
- Procedure
- Suit
CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE (CPC)
The Code of Civil Procedure existence ca be traced back to pre- independent era. It was enacted in the year 1859 after which various sections were amended for 6 time after which it was repealed and new enactment of CPC for independent India was enacted by a committee named Imperial Legislative council which was headed by Sir Earle Richard in 1908 it came into force and with effect in the year 1909 on January 1st. CPC is constituted of two parts in which first part contains 158 sections and the second part contains the first schedule which is further divided into 51 orders and rules which deals with the matter of principles of natural justice, immediate proceedings, simplification of procedure. The most basic standards of this code are Civil Suit, Jurisdiction and Res-judicata.
JURISDICTION
Jurisdiction simply means authority for example if we talk about jurisdiction of court then it implies to the whole of area, people and possession which are bound to act in accordance to the orders passed, provision amended and dignity demanded by the court. No one is expected to ignore or defy the jurisdiction of any organization. At the same time every person or organization should act within their jurisdiction failing to do so results in being checked by the higher authority. For example, if any court gives any judgement that’s outside their jurisdiction, then the higher court or the apex court issues a writ of certiorari in which it demands an explanation from the lower court that with what jurisdiction did you pass this verdict. In the case of Hriday Nath Roy vs Ram Chandra[1], Calcutta High Court defined jurisdiction as” the power to hear and determine the issues of law and the fact or the authority by which their judicial powers take knowledge of facts and decide causes or the authority to hear and decide the legal dispute or the power to hear and determine the subject matter in the dispute among the parties to a suit and to adjudicate or exercise any judicial power over them or the ability to hear, determine and declare judgement on issues before the court or the power or authority which is given to a court by government to understand and learn causes between parties and to give a judgement into the effect or the power to enquire into the facts to apply the law to pronounce the Judgement and put it into execution”.
JURISDICTION OF CIVIL COURT
In the Code of Civil Procedure there is no proper explanation for the term jurisdiction but regardless of this there is a term in Indian judiciary’ Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium’ meaning that where there is a right there is a remedy which ultimately implies that jurisdiction commonly rests where the crime has been committed. A glimpse of jurisdiction is given in sec 9 of Civil Procedure Code which says that civil courts in India have jurisdiction to try all lawsuits of civil nature accepting suits of which their cognizance is either expressly or impliedly barred. In total there are several types of jurisdictions with respect to civil court such as Territorial jurisdiction, Pecuniary Jurisdiction, Exclusive Jurisdiction.
Let’s take a look at them one by one:
TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION
In this the geographical limits of a court’s authority are clearly defined. No court can exercise its power beyond these limits, if so, does then any of its orders won’t stand applicable. Section 16 of Code of Civil Procedure explains the territorial jurisdiction based on the geographic location of the immovable property. In the case of Harshad Chiman Lal Modi vs D.L.F Universal Ltd. [2]the apex court held that the court doesn’t have the power to decide the rights of property which are not situated within their territorial jurisdiction. However, the court can still pass a relief if the other party agrees to try the suit in such a case.
PECUNIARY JURISDICTION
Pecuniary means in relation to capital, in this type of jurisdiction there is a question that weather the court is competent to try the case of such financial value. The code of Civil Procedure allows civil court to try the suit only and only if the suit’s value doesn’t exceed the financial limit of the court. Section 15 of Civil Procedure Code commands the party who filed the suit to try in lower court.
EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION
In the Code of Civil Procedure, exclusive jurisdiction means that a single court has the complete authority to try a suit. This occurs when there is a contractual obligation or there is a specific type of subject matter.
JURISDICTION AS TO SUBJECT MATTER
This type of jurisdiction allows court to try cases that are specific in nature or when any specific court is barred from hearing a specific type of matters.
EQUITABLE JURISDICTION
Equitable jurisdiction allows the court to take specific actions to meet the end of the justice. With the aid of such jurisdiction courts can deliver judgements outside the purview of law. Apex court in the case of K.K. Velusamy vs N.Palansiamy[3] held that sec 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure doesn’t allows the court to pass orders outside its jurisdiction or defies any provision mentioned in the law, instead it grants some discretionary power to achieve the ends of justice.
CONCLUSION
In the end it’s all about meeting the ends of justice these jurisdictions are distinctively vested so that the courts are not overburdened with work, justice is served without delay and there is no misuse of power. In India where there is a huge population with a high population density in the limited landmass issue arises and those which are civil in nature are very common because the population is increasing and the amount of holdings are not expanding proportionally which often leads to conflict and in order to resolve this conflict code of civil procedure came into force which enacts itself through civil courts and from here the importance of jurisdiction comes into play as it is important for the parties to now where to approach in the matter of a civil dispute so that they would get unbiased and best suggestion and legal aid without any delay. In India there are civil courts at every branch of district courts and if either of the party is unsatisfied with the judgement of the district court then they can move up to high court and then to the apex court following the hierarchy of judicial system.
This article is written by Kushagra Bhagwat, B.A.L.L.B.(Hons.), 3rd year, Amity University, Lucknow Campus during his internship at LeDroit India.
[1] Hriday Nath Roy vs Ram Chandra AIR 1929 Cal 445
[2] Harshad Chiman Lal Modi v. DLF Universal ltd. (2005) 7 scc 791
[3] K.K Velusamy vs N. Palansiamy 2011 SCC 275
