1 January 2016

Key Initiatives and Achievements of Ministry of Law & Justice

Key Initiatives and Achievements of Ministry of Law & Justice



Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015 and  Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment ) Ordinance, 2015  Promulgated

Draft National Litigation Policy Formulated

Web Portal for Centralized Data Regarding Cases by or against the Union of India

Decentralization of Legal Assistance to the Ministries/Departments

Study on merger of Tribunals completed
Constitution of 21st Law Commission approved

43 Bills Introduced in Lok Sabha during the year

25 bills and the Constitutional (one hundredth amendment) act, 2015 enacted into acts. 

9 Ordinances Promulgated by the President under Article 123 of the Constitution

More than 95 percent Activities of E Court Mission completed

ICT Infrastructure of the Supreme Court and High Court has also been Upgraded.

National E-Courts Portal become Operational and has been opened for Public Access

Overall pendency in subordinate courts declined from 2.77 crore in 2010 to 2.64 crore in 2014

Availability of Infrastructure Facilities for District and Subordinate Courts in the Country have considerably improved in the recent past

The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015 to Enhance the Pecuniary Jurisdiction of Delhi District Courts from existing Rupees Twenty Lakhs to Rupees Two Crore  been brought into Force


The Union Ministry of Law and Justice comprises of three respective departments, namely, the Department of Legal Affairs, the Legislative Department and the Department of Justice. During the calendar year2015 following are the initiatives and achievements of the ministry:

Promulgation of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015

The Government  has under its consideration providing a mechanism to ensure speedy and fair disposal of ‘commercial disputes’, especially of high value, involving complex facts and questions of law.  Accepting the recommendations of the Law Commission made in 253rd Report, a Bill namely, the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 24thApril, 2015 and the same is currently under the consideration of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.

            India’s ranking in Doing Business Report of World Bank 2015 in respect of ‘enforcing contract’ is 178 out of 189.  In order to improve the India’s ranking, the Government felt that some urgent steps are needed to be taken.  Establishment of dedicated Commercial Courts and Commercial Division in High Courts would be seen as a right step.

            As provided in the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015, (which is pending in the Rajya Sabha) all the suits, appeals or applications related to commercial dispute of specified value i.e. one crore or above, are to be dealt with by the Commercial Court or the Commercial Division of the High Court.

            By way of the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act of 2015, the ordinary original jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court has been increased from Rs. Twenty lakhs to Rs. Two crore and there is provision of transfer of pending cases from the Delhi High Court to District Courts.  When the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 would become the Act, some of the Commercial Disputes which are to be transferred to the District Courts from the Delhi High Court may again be required to be transferred to the Commercial Division of the High Court of Delhi.  It was likely to lead to delay in the disposal of cases as well as cause inconvenience to the parties and counsel and may also result in confusion.  Therefore, it became necessary that provisions of the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015 and establishment of the Commercial Courts and Commercial Division of the High Courts may be brought in the statute book simultaneously. 

            Since Parliament was not in session and urgent steps were needed to be taken, the Cabinet in its meeting held on 21st October, 2015, approved the Promulgation of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in High Courts Ordinance, 2015. Later the President promulgated the Ordinance on 23.10.2015

(ii)        Promulgation of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.

            With rapid growth of international trade and commerce, large number of commercial agreements not only between Indian nationals/companies but also between Indian Nationals and foreign nations/companies are being signed.  When there are more commercial agreements, number of commercial disputes is bound to arise.  Most of these commercial agreements usually contain an arbitration agreement where parties agree to settle any prospective dispute through arbitration instead of going to court.  Arbitration has thus emerged as a commercially significant method of dispute resolution.  In India, the Arbitration and Conciliation act, 1996 is the governing law regarding arbitration proceedings and enforcement of foreign arbitral award.   However, due to large pendency of cases in courts and slow process of dispute resolution through arbitration, India does not enjoy a good position in contract enforcement in the world.  India has ranked in enforcing contract at 178 out of 189.  Quick enforcement of contract, easy recovery of monetary claims and award of just compensation for damages suffered are absolutely essential to encourage investment and economic activity.  With these objectives, the President has promulgated the arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, on 23.10.2015. 

 (iii)      National Litigation Policy

The Government is often perceived as the biggest litigant in various courts in the country.  With a view to reverse this image, this Department has formulated a draft National Litigation Policy.  It aims to transform Government as an institution which does not believe in entering into unnecessary and avoidable litigation in the Courts by taking appropriate steps at pre-litigation stage itself.  The policy also aims to make Government as an Efficient and Responsible litigant.  The policy is awaiting approval of the Cabinet.

(iv) Web Portal for centralized data regarding cases by or against the Union of India

As of today, there is no centralized data available regarding cases by or against the Union of India. A Legal Information Management Based System (LIMBS) a web portal has been set up where each Ministry/Department of the Government is required to upload the details of cases which are pending in various courts and the status of these cases. This will help in effective monitoring of court cases by the Department of Legal Affairs.  

(v)        Decentralization of legal assistance to the Ministries/Departments

As part of the legal reforms, this Department is envisaging to decentralize the availability of legal assistance to the Ministries/Departments by providing services of ILS officers in-house in each Ministry/Department. For this purpose, all Ministries/Departments were requested to assess their requirements of ILS officers depending on the workload of their advice/legislative matters. Views of DOPT and Department of Expenditure have been obtained on a draft Cabinet Note in this regard.  A Note for the Cabinet would be moved shortly.

(vi) Merger of Tribunals functioning under the administrative charge of various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India.

A large of number Tribunals are functioning under the administrative charge of various Ministries / Departments of the Government of India.  There is possibility that some of these Tribunals can be converged / merged to avoid overlapping / identical functions being discharged by these Tribunals.  A study in this regard was entrusted to the Indian Law Institute.  Study report has been received and is being sent to the concerned Ministries and Departments for their response on the report.
           
(vii)           The Income tax Appellate Tribunal decides second appeals against orders of the Departmental Appellate Authorities in respect of all direct taxes.  There are 63 Benches of ITAT with sanctioned strength of 63 Judicial Members and 63 Accountant Members including one President, one Senior Vice President and 9 Vice-Presidents.  After amendment of the Income Tax Act, recently for the first time a retired Judge of the High Court has been appointed as President of the Tribunal.  The selection process for selection of 48 Members of the Tribunal has been completed by holding interviews of 546 candidates and proposals were sent for approval of the Government.  The appointment  of  30  Members have been made in the Tribunal.  During the period from May, 2014 to October, 2015  ITAT has disposed of  51,902 cases out of 63,475 cases instituted during this period.

(viii)         The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the Government from time to time.  The 20th Law Commission of India was constituted for a period of three years with effect from 1stSeptember, 2012 and upto 31st August, 2015.    The successive Law Commissions have so far submitted 256 Reports, all of which have been forwarded to the concerned Ministries/ Departments for examination/implementation.  During the current financial year the Law Commission of India has submitted 12 Reports.  Since the Law Commission of India is continuously functioning from 1955,   Government has approved constitution of the 21st Law Commission of India for a period of three years with effect from 1.9.2015 to 31.8.2018.  The Chairperson and Members of the Commission will be appointed shortly.

Important Tasks Undertaken by the Legislative Department.

During the period from 1st January, 2015 to 11th December, 2015 this Department has examined 98 legislative proposals/Notes for the Cabinet involving new proposals in consultation with different Ministries/Departments for drafting the Bills for introduction in the Houses of the Parliament.  During this period, 43 Bills were sent to the Parliament for introduction.

Out of the Bills which were already pending before Parliament and those introduced during the period from 01/01/2015 to 11/12/15, 25 Bills and the Constitutional (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015 have been enacted into Acts.  9 Ordinances have been promulgated by the President under article 123 of the Constitution.

During the above said period, 2821 Subordinate legislation proposals of various Ministries/Departments have been dealt with.

Repeal of Obsolete and redundant laws:  The action taken by this Department     relating to the ‘Repeal of obsolete and redundant laws from June, 2014;

Sl. No.
Action taken
Number of Acts repealed
Present status
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
1.
The Repealing and Amending Act, 2015 (Act 17 of 2015
35 Acts
Received assent of the President on 13/05/2015 and published in the Gazette of India as Act No. 17 of 2015
2.
The Repealing and Amendment (Second) Act, 2015 (Act 19 of 2015
90 Acts
Received assent of the President on 14/05/15 and published in the Gazette of India as Act No. 19 of 2015.
3.
The Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015
A Bill to repeal 758 Appropriation Acts [including the Appropriation (Railways) Act] enacted since 1950 to 2012 which includes 111 State Appropriation Acts enacted by Parliament during the President’s Rule in the States upto the year 1976 [before the Constitution 42ndAmendment) Act, 1976] was introduced in Lok Sabha on 24/04/15 and considered and passed by Lok Sabha on 11/05/15.
The said Bill, as passed by Lok Sabha is pending in Rajya Sabha.
4.
The Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015
The Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015 has been introduced in Lok Sabha on 27th July, 2015 to repeal 295 Acts.
Passed by Lok Sabha on 06/08/15 as the Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015 and pending in Rajya Sabha


Training in Legislative Drafting

Legislative Drafting is a specialised job which involves drafting skill and expertise.  Continuous and sustainable efforts are required to enhance the skills in drafting of laws.  The existing resource persons need training and orientation to develop the aptitude and the skill in legislative drafting.  In January, 1989, with a view to increasing the availability of trained Legislative Counsels in the country, the Institute of Legislative Drafting and Research (ILDR) was established as a Wing of the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.  Since its inception, ILDR has been imparting theoretical as well as practical training in Legislative Drafting. The following activities have been performed by ILDR during the period 01-01-2015 till date.

During the period under report, ILDR has conducted one Basic Course, one Appreciation Course and first refresher course. The Twenty-Seventh  Basic Course in Legislative Drafting  was conducted from 10th July, 2015 to 9thOctober, 2015,  the Eighteenth Appreciation Course in Legislative Drafting was conducted from 19th January, 2015 to 2nd February, 2015 and first refresher course  was conducted from 20th April, 2015 to 19th May, 2015.

The Trainee Officers from the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Hungary, Jamaica, Jordan, Indonesia, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Lithuania, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Pan African Parliament, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Ukraine  were given on-the-job practical training in ILDR by attaching them with the ILS officers of this Department during the Thirtieth International Training Programme in Legislative Drafting (12th February, 2015 to 13th March, 2015) organised by Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, Lok Sabha Secretariat.

On successful completion of 25 years of ILDR’s existence and its remarkable service rendered to the fraternity of Legislative Counsels in the Country, Silver Jubilee function was organised on 19th February, 2015.

ILDR offers Voluntary Internship Scheme for Law Students to motivate students in creating interest in legislative drafting skills and secure knowledge about the nature and working of the Legislative Department.  So far, 15 interns have successfully completed the internship during the reported period.

The RFDs for Legislative Department have been prepared, finalised and uploaded on the website of this Department. The Performance Management Division (PMD) in the Cabinet Secretariat monitors the preparation and working of RFD. The tasks as per the RFD 2014-2015 are being undertaken to achieve the goal of best performance by the Department. As part of the commitment made by the Department in RFD 2014-2015, an Action Plan to get ILDR ISO Certification was drawn up. Consequently, a Quality Management System (QMS) has been developed and put in place in ILDR. Thereafter, internal and external audits were undertaken and finally, ILDR has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 Certification on the basis of evaluation of the working of QMS in ILDR.

Seminars, Exhibitions and Sale of Books and Patrikas.

            In the year 2015-16 exhibition-cum-sale counters were held at Allahabad High Court and Varansi District Court, Tis Hazari, Patiala House, Dwaraka, Rohini, Saket, Karkardoonma and Delhi High Court, Gross sale figure of Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan is Rs, 11,02,641/- the year 2015-16.  Apart from this a stall has been reserved for World Book fair to be held at Prahgati Maidan on 9th January, 2016 to 17th January, 2016.

I.    List of Bills introduced in Parliament during 1st January, 2015 to 11th December, 2015:
S.No.
Title
  1.  
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Finance Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation (Railways) Vote on Account Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation (Railways) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation (Railways) No.2 Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation (No.2)  Bill, 2015
  1.  
The National Waterways Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Compensatory Afforestations Fund Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Banami Transactions (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (to replace Ord. 6 of 2015)
  1.  
The Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation (Railways) No.3 Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Bureau of Indian Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Carriage By Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Consumer Protection Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The High Court and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Indian Trusts (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015
  1.  
The Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015

II.   List of Acts enacted during 1st January, 2015 to 11th December, 2015:
  1.  
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.1 of 2015)
  1.  
The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2015 (Act No.2 of 2015)
  1.  
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.3 of 2015)
  1.  
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2015(Act No.4 of 2015)
  1.  
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.5 of 2015)
  1.  
The Appropriation (Railways) Vote on Account Bill, 2015(Act No.6 of 2015)
  1.  
The Appropriation (Railways) Bill, 2015(Act No.7 of 2015)
  1.  
The Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2015(Act No.8 of 2015)
  1.  
The Appropriation Bill, 2015(Act No.9 of 2015)
  1.  
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 (Act No.10 of 2015)
  1.  
The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015 (Act No.11 of 2015)
  1.  
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.12 of 2015)
  1.  
The Appropriation (Railways) No.2 Bill, 2015 (Act No.13 of 2015)
  1.  
The Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.14 of 2015)
  1.  
The Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2015 (Act No.15 of 2015)
  1.  
The Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.16 of 2015)
  1.  
The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2015 (Act No.17 of 2015)
  1.  
The Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.18 of 2015)
  1.  
The Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2015 (Act No.19 of 2015)
  1.  
The Finance Bill, 2015 (Act No.20 of 2015)
  1.  
The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.21 of 2015)
  1.  
The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Bill, 2015 (Act No.22 of 2015)
23.
The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.23 of 2015)
24.
The Appropriation (Railways) No.3 Bill, 2015(Act No.24 of 2015)
25.
The Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2015(Act No.25 of 2015)

*
The Constitution (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015 - The Act  amends the First Schedule of the Constitution to give effect to an agreement entered into between India and Bangladesh in 1974 and its protocol, which allow for acquiring certain territories by India, and transfer of certain territories to Bangladesh. The First Schedule of the Constitution defines the area of each state and union territory which together constitute India. The Bill alters the boundaries of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura in the First Schedule.

III. List of Ordinances promulgated:
  1.  
The Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (1 of 2015)
  1.  
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment Ordinance), 2015 (2 of 2015)
  1.  
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015 (3 of 2015)
  1.  
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (4 of 2015)
  1.  
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015 (5 of 2015)
  1.  
The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (6 of 2015)
  1.  
The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015 (7 of 2015)
  1.  
The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015  (8 of 2015)
  1.  
The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015(9 of 2015)

E Courts Mission Mode Project

The e Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project is one of the National e-Governance projects being implemented in High Courts and District and Subordinate Courts of the Country, since 2007.
As on 30th November, 2015, more than 95% of the mandated activities of Phase I of the Project have been completed.

S. No.
Module
Status as on 31.10.2015
% Completion
1
Sites funded 
14249
100.00
2
Sites readiness
14249
100.00
3
Hardware installation
13436
94.29
4
LAN installation
13683
96.02
5
Software deployment
13672
95.95

                In addition to above, ICT infrastructure of the Supreme Court and High Court has also been upgraded.
         I.          A unified national core application software - Case Information System (CIS) software - has been developed and made available for deployment at all computerised courts. Entry of data regarding past cases has been initiated, and data in respect of over 5 crore cases is available online.

      II.          The national e-Courts portal (http://www.ecourts.gov.in) has become operational and has been opened for public access through websites of individual districts as well as through National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). The portal provides online services to litigants such as details of case registration, cause list, case status, daily orders, and final judgments. Currently, litigants can access case status information in respect of over 5.59 crore pending and decided cases and more than 1.93 crore orders/judgments pertaining to district and subordinate Courts. NJDG data will also help the judiciary in judicial monitoring and management and the Government to get data for policy purposes.

Ph-II of the eCourts Project has been approved in July, 2015. It envisages enhanced ICT enablement of court through universal computerisation, use of cloud computing, digitization of case records and enhanced availability of e-Services through e-filing, e-payment gateways and mobile payments.
A consolidation of all the initiatives and measures proposed to be taken up and installation of the components planned in Phase-II of the project will result in multi-platform services for the litigants under the Charter of Services. Further, e-filing of cases, e-payment of court fees and  process service through email and through process servers having hand held devices, are some of the services to be added in Phase II.
Access to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) was opened to general public on 19th September, 2015. The information on NJDG will help improve the administration of justice delivery as well as judicial management and monitoring.

Pendency Reduction

Pendency reduction campaign was initiated for the first time in July, 2011. High Courts were requested to prioritise disposal of cases that had been pending for a long duration, particularly those relating to senior citizens and marginalized sections of society. In 2012 the focus of the campaign was to make the judicial system free of cases that were over five years old. Pendency reduction campaign in 2013 focused on weeding out ineffective and infructuous cases from the judicial system. In 2014 emphasis was laid on filling up of vacancies of judicial officers and organization of Mega Lok Adalats. As a result of concerned efforts made by various stakeholders the increasing trend of pendency of cases in subordinate courts has been checked and the overall pendency in subordinate courts has declined from 2.77 crore in 2010 to 2.64 crore in 2014.

JUDICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

            Adequacy of judicial infrastructure is one of the important factors which determines the capacity of the courts to dispose of cases in an orderly and time bound manner.  The Central Government has been financially assisting the State Governments in development of modern court complexes and residential accommodation which adhere to the standard building designs.  The financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 933 crores was released to the State Governments for this purpose during the last financial year.  An amount of Rs. 448 crores has been released to the states as on 30th November, 2015 during the current financial year.

            On account of concerted efforts made by the Central Government, State Governments and the judiciary in this regard the availability of infrastructure facilities for District and Subordinate Courts in the country have considerably improved in the recent past.  Against the working strength of about 15,300 judicial officers, a matching number of court halls are available to conduct the judicial proceedings.  About 2,700 additional court halls are under construction to take care of immediate increase in working strength of Subordinate Judiciary.  Similarly, the availability of the residential accommodation to the judicial officers has also improved in the recent past and more than 10,800 residential units of required standards and designs are available for the judicial officers.  In addition, more than 1,700 residential units are under construction at present to further improve the availability of residential accommodation for subordinate courts.
Write-up on Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015.

            The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi considered the request of the Bar Associations of Delhi and requested the Central Government to approve enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the High Court of Delhi and District Courts of Delhi from existing Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 2 crore. Increasing the pecuniary jurisdiction of District Courts of Delhi would lessen the burden of Delhi High Court and there would be substantive improvement in disposal of cases in subordinate Courts.  This will facilitate access of the general public to 11 District Courts located in 6 District Court Complexes within the vicinity of their location, ensuring speedy justice to the litigants at their door steps.

            The Delhi High Court Act, 1966 is a Central Legislation.  Under Section 5(2) of the Delhi High Court Act, 1966, the High Court of Delhi has ordinary civil jurisdiction in respect of suits, the value of which exceeds Rs. 20 lakh.  This jurisdiction was last revised with effect from 16th July 2003 from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh by the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2003. Pecuniary jurisdiction of District Courts in Delhi is determined under Section 25 of the Punjab Courts Act 1918, as applicable in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. This jurisdiction was also last revised in 2003.

Keeping in view the need to provide justice at the doorsteps of the people, the proposal of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has been considered and a Bill, namely The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was passed by the Parliament. The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015 to enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction of Delhi District Courts from existing rupees twenty lakhs to rupees two crore received the assent of the President of India on 10.08.2015 and has been brought into force w.e.f.26.10.2015.

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