Panel to look at enhancing pecuniary jurisdiction of district court civil judges: Delhi HC

New Delhi, Dec 1 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that a committee will look into the enhancement of the pecuniary jurisdiction of civil judges posted in the district courts in the national capital.

The bench presided over by Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing the plea filed by petitioner Advocate Amit Sahni seeking court directions to its Registrar General and the Delhi government, saying that the pecuniary jurisdiction of district courts at the level of civil judges needs to be amended or increased so that the stagnation faced by the civil judges and the burden of cases upon district judges, additional district judges can be reduced simultaneously.

The court observed that the issue is reasonable and the jurisdiction of civil judges of Delhi Court is nominal and it should be increased. "But we would look into the same on the administrative side. Committee of this court would look into it," the court said.

The court directed the respondents to consider and decide the petition and grievance ventilated in the petition as expeditiously as possible and practicable as per law.

Apart from the Registrar General and the city government, the Bar Council of Delhi and different Bar associations of district courts are also respondents in the matter. The petitioner requested the Court to decide the plea in a time-bound manner.

The bench stated: "It's good that you have raised this issue, the committee of Delhi High Court would look into the same and an appropriate decision would be taken in this regard."

The plea said that the pecuniary jurisdiction of civil judges in the district courts of Delhi is up to Rs 3 lakh only and there has been no change in it from 2003.

However, the pecuniary jurisdiction of ADJ, district judges has increased from Rs 20 lakh in 2003 to Rs 2 crore in 2015, it said, adding that the pecuniary jurisdictions of the Delhi High Court and other district courts were altered or increased from time to time to suit the dynamics of the contemporary legal scenario.

"The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court has risen from above Rs 25,000 to above Rs 2,00,00,000 within the years of 1969 to 2015 and pecuniary jurisdiction of district judge level was increased from up to Rs 20 lakh to up to Rs 2 crore within the years of 2003 to 2018 through Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Ordinance), 2018. The pecuniary jurisdiction of civil judge level has not been amended and it is still up to Rs 3 lakh," the plea said.

The district courts in the neighbourhood of Delhi Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad enjoy unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction. District Courts in Delhi need to be equated with district courts in adjoining areas of Delhi so far as pecuniary jurisdiction is concerned, the plea stated.

The distribution of pecuniary jurisdiction of civil judges was proportionately done on earlier occasions at the time of amendments but from 2003 onwards, there is no increase in pecuniary jurisdiction of civil judges posted at the Delhi district courts, the plea added.

The pecuniary value of Rs 3 lakh entrusted to civil judges of the Delhi district courts is on the extremely lower side and no property in Delhi is worth "Rs 3 lakh" only and the same has led to stagnation as civil judges of the Delhi district courts are adjudicating injunction suits and petty suit for recovery amounting up to 3 lakh only, it said.

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