Commercial Courts Act
Delhi High Court Rejects Buyers' Denial Of Supply After VAT Credit Claim
The Delhi High Court has upheld a commercial court decree directing recovery of Rs. 8.89 lakh in a dispute over supply of chemical goods, holding that the purchasers' conduct in availing VAT input credit made their plea that the transactions were fictitious untenable. A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Madhu Jain said, “The claim of VAT input credit necessarilyproceeds on the premise that the purchasing dealer recognizes the transaction as a genuine purchase from the supplier....
Supervisory Jurisdiction Of High Court Can Be Invoked Against Refusal To Reject Plaint In Commercial Suits: MP High Court
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has recently held that a party can invoke the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court (Article 227 of the Constitution) to challenge a Commercial Court's refusal to reject a plaint at the threshold, even where no appeal or revision lies against such an order.The court clarified that although statutory remedies are barred under the Commercial Courts Act, the High Court's supervisory jurisdiction remains available in limited cases, particularly where the impugned...
Bombay High Court Rejects NSEL Plea To Adopt Committee Mechanism To Assess Liability In ₹937 Crore Suit
The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected a notice of motion filed by National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) seeking application of a committee mechanism to its recovery suit involving alleged fraudulent and collusive commodity transactions against its former trading member, N.K. Proteins Ltd. and its promoters, directors, and related entities. Holding that the notice of motion was premature and that pleadings must be completed and issues framed before such relief can be considered, Justice Gauri...
Chhattisgarh High Court Refuses To Condone 110-Day Delay In Arbitration Appeal Against PwC
The Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed an arbitration appeal filed by the Chhattisgarh State Agriculture Marketing Board against Price Waterhouse Coopers Pvt. Ltd., holding that the Board failed to justify a delay of 110 days in filing the appeal within the time limit prescribed under the Commercial Courts Act. A division bench of Justices Rajani Dubey and Radhakishan Agrawal held that no sufficient cause was shown to justify the delay beyond the prescribed limitation period under the...
Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Eviction Decree Against Indian Oil As Commercial Dispute Was Heard In Non-Commercial Division
The Calcutta High Court has recently set aside an eviction decree passed against Indian Oil Corporation Limited, holding that a suit for eviction from property leased for running a petrol pump remained a commercial dispute under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and therefore could not have been filed in the non-commercial division of the Court. A division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi held that the requirements of Section 2(1)(c)(vii) of the Act were satisfied,...
Dispute Over Lease Of Land For Petrol Pump Is Commercial Dispute Even If Pump Not Operational: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has recently held that a dispute arising from a lease of land for a petrol pump qualifies as a “commercial dispute” under the Commercial Courts Act, even if the business has not commenced and the project is still under construction.A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M Poonacha was considering an appeal challenging an order of the Commercial Court returning the plaint on the ground that the dispute did not fall within the definition of a...
Judgment On Admission Under CPC Requires Clear Admission Of Transaction And Amount Of Liability: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has recently held that a court can grant a decree on admission under Order XII Rule 6 CPC only when the defendant clearly admits both the transaction and the amount due, observing that the rule must be applied strictly. Holding that mere acknowledgement of transactions is insufficient unless the specific amount payable is admitted, the court granted a Rs 12 lakh decree on admission to Skipper Limited in its commercial dispute with Prabha Infrastructure Private Limited,...
Madras High Court Directs Chennai Port Trust To Pay ₹1.21 Crore To X-Press Container Lines In Arbitration Dispute
The Madras High Court recently restored an arbitral award directing the Board of Trustees of the Port of Chennai to refund Rs.1,21,91,869 to X-Press Container Lines (UK) Ltd. in a dispute arising out of a berth reservation agreement and recovery of berth hire charges and penal levy, holding that the claim was within limitation in view of repeated acknowledgments of liability by the Port authorities. A Division Bench comprising Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and K. Kumaresh Babu allowed an appeal...
Plaint Cannot Be Read So As To Bypass Pre-Institution Mediation Under Commercial Courts Act: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has held that a plaint cannot be framed so as to bypass the mandatory pre-institution mediation requirement under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act. The court made the observation while allowing an appeal in a case where a suit relating to a commercial dispute had been filed in the non-commercial division and while considering rejection of the plaint under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure. “Section 12A of the Act of 2015 has mandated preinstitution...
Delay In Commercial Appeals Cannot Be Condoned Routinely Without Sufficient Cause: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court recently observed that delay in filing appeals in commercial matters cannot be condoned as a matter of routine and must be treated as an exception only when the party demonstrates sufficient cause and bona fide conduct.The observation came from a division bench of Justices Anu Sivaraman and Vijaykumar A. Patil while dismissing a commercial appeal filed by the Union of India, represented by the Chief Engineer, Southern Railway. The appeal had challenged a July 4, 2024...
Madras High Court Directs Commercial Court To Number, Hear Suit Returned For Skipping Pre-Institution Mediation
The Madras High Court has recently directed a Commercial Court in Chennai to number a commercial suit that had been returned before numbering for failure to undergo pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. The Court held that the plaint disclosed a case seeking “urgent interim relief." Justice S. Sounthar observed that at the stage of numbering a plaint, the court's inquiry is limited to examining whether the suit plausibly seeks urgent interim relief....
Delhi High Court Refuses To Condone 1,000-Day Delay In Commercial Appeal, Cites Lack Of Diligence By Appellant
The Delhi High Court has recently refused to condone a 1,000-day delay in filing a commercial appeal, stressing that the Commercial Courts Act requires strict adherence to timelines to ensure the speedy disposal of disputes.The Division bench of Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Ajay Digpaul observed that,“This is especially so due to the object of the Commercial Courts Act in ensuring strict adherence of timelines by parties to facilitate the speedy disposal of suits, coupled with the...