Where are the Courts established and what are their territorial Jurisdictions?

In Uttar Pradesh, as per GO dated 31.10.2017 and GO dated 02.11.2017 Commercial Courts have been notified/ established in 13 districts with territorial jurisdictions as hereinunder:

S.N.	Districts	Territorial Jurisdiction over districts
1	Agra	Agra, Mathura, Mainpuri, Firozabad
2	Aligarh	Aligarh, Hathras Etah, Kasganj
3	Allahabad/ Prayagraj	Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh
4	Bareilly	Bareli, Badaun, Pilibheet, Shahjahanpur
5	Ayodhya/ Faizabad	Ayodhya, Barabanki, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Amethi, Gonda, Bahraich, Balrampur.
6	Gautam buddha Nagar	Hapur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad
7	Gorakhpur	Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Dewariyan, Kushinagar
8	Jhansi	Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Chitrakoot, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba
9	Kanpur Nagar	Kanpur Nagar, Kanour Dehat, Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Etawah, Auraiya
10	Lucknow	Lucknow, Unnao, Raebareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Lakhimpur
11	Meerut	Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat
12	Moradabad	Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Bijnore
13	Varanasi	Azamgarh, Ballia, Mau, Varanasi, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Sant Ravidas Nagar

What is the meaning of a Commercial Dispute?

As per the Commercial Court Act 2015, ‘commercial dispute’ means a dispute arising out of-

• ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents, including enforcement and interpretation of such documents;
• export or import of merchandise or services;
• issues relating to admiralty and maritime law;
• transactions relating to aircraft, aircraft engines, aircraft equipment and helicopters, including sales, leasing and financing of the same;
• carriage of goods;
• construction and infrastructure contracts, including tenders;
• agreements relating to immovable property used exclusively in trade or commerce;
• franchising agreements;
• distribution and licensing agreements;
• management and consultancy agreements;
• joint venture agreements;
• shareholders agreements;
• subscription and investment agreements pertaining to the services industry including outsourcing services and financial services;
• mercantile agency and mercantile usage;
• partnership agreements;
• technology development agreements;
• intellectual property rights relating to registered and unregistered trademarks, copyright, patent, design, domain names, geographical indications and semiconductor integrated circuits;
• agreements for sale of goods or provision of services;
• exploitation of oil and gas reserves or other natural resources including electromagnetic spectrum;
• insurance and re-insurance;
• contracts of agency relating to any of the above; and
• such other commercial disputes as may be notified by the Central Government.

Any of the above commercial disputes will still be a commercial dispute if:

• it also involves action for recovery of immovable property or for the realisation of monies out of immovable property given as security or involves any other relief pertaining to immovable property;
• one of the contracting parties is the State or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, or a private body carrying out public functions;

What is the Pecuniary & Territorial Jurisdiction of Commercial Courts?

The specified value / pecuniary jurisdiction of district Commercial Courts is a minimum of 3 (three) lakh rupees in commercial disputes.

A district  Commercial Court have jurisdiction to try all suits and applications relating to a commercial dispute of a Specified Value arising out at a place over which it has been vested territorial jurisdiction. For jurisdiction purposes, a commercial dispute is considered to arise out of the entire territory of the State over which a Commercial Court has been vested jurisdiction, if the suit or application relating to such commercial dispute has been instituted as per the provisions of sections 16 to 20 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Who is in-charge of the matters if in case Commercial Court does not have a presiding officer or is on leave?

The District Judge of the District where the commercial court is established becomes the In-Charge of the Commercial Court. As per GO Dated 05.02.2020.

Where does the appeal lie from the district Commercial Court in Uttar Pradesh?

An appeal lies before the division bench of the Commercial Appellate Division of the jurisdictional High Court.

Can revision be filed against any interlocutory orders of the Commercial Court?

No. Civil revision applications or petitions are not maintainable against any interlocutory order of a Commercial Court, including an order on the issue of jurisdiction. Any interlocutory order is challenged together in Appeal before the Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court, however, subject to the provisions of section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act.  Further, no appeal or civil revision application under section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), as the case may be, lies from an order of a Commercial Division or Commercial Court finding that it has jurisdiction to hear a commercial dispute under this Act.

What is the remedy against illegal interlocutory order by Commercial Court? Can Writ Petition be filed?

If the interlocutory order is perverse, or contrary to law same can be challenged under Article 227 of the Constitution of India before the jurisdictional.

What is the jurisdiction of Commercial Courts in Arbitration matters?

In case of all non-international/ national commercial arbitration, all applications including interim reliefs under section 9, or appointment of arbitrator under section 11, or appeals arising out of such arbitration under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) that would ordinarily lie before any principal civil court of original jurisdiction in a district (not being a High Court) are filed in, and heard and disposed of by the Commercial Court exercising territorial jurisdiction over such arbitration where such Commercial Court has been constituted.

Is there any bar on the jurisdiction of the Commercial Courts?

A Commercial Court or a Commercial Division does not entertain or decide any suit, application or proceedings relating to any commercial dispute in respect of which the jurisdiction of the civil court is either expressly or impliedly barred under any other law for the time being in force.

How to determine the pecuniary jurisdiction/specified value of three lakhs in a commercial suit?

The Specified Value of the subject matter of the commercial dispute in a suit, appeal or application is determined in the following manner:––

• where the relief sought in a suit or application is for recovery of money, the money sought date of filing of the suit or application, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for determining such Specified Value of three lakh rupees;
• where the relief sought in a suit, appeal or application relates to movable property or to a right therein, the market value of the movable property as on the date of filing of the suit, appeal or application, as the case may be, is taken into account for determining such Specified Value of minimum three lakh rupees;
• where the relief sought in a suit, appeal or application relates to immovable property or to a right therein, the market value of the immovable property, as on the date of filing of the suit, appeal or application, as the case may be, is taken into account for determining Specified Value; and
• where the relief sought in a suit, appeal or application relates to any other intangible right, the market value of the said rights as estimated by the plaintiff shall be taken into account for determining Specified Value;

What is the requirement of Pre-Institution of Mediation and Settlement before filing a commercial suit?

A commercial suit, which does not contemplate any urgent interim relief under the Act, shall not be instituted unless the plaintiff exhausts the remedy of pre-institution mediation before the District Legal Services Authority and State Legal Services Authority as the case may be.

The Central Government vide notification No.A-60011(06)/20/2016-Admn.-III(LA) dated 03.07.0218 in the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, the Central Government has authorised the State Authority and District Authority constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987), for the purposes of pre-institution mediation and settlement under Chapter IIIA of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

 Mediation is to be conducted by following The Commercial Courts (Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement) Rules 2018 in Uttar Pradesh and by following the SOP circulated vide notice no. 5083/DHC/Gaz/G-4/2018 dated 28.11.2018.