IDENTIFYING THE

JURISDICTION TO FILE YOUR

CASE
MASTER 30 CIVIL LITIGATION SKILLS
IN 45 DAYS
Identifying the Jurisdiction to file your case ​
Master 30 Civil Litigation skills in 45 days

Jurisdiction of Civil Court

The jurisdiction of Civil Court is defined under Section 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure
(“CPC”), 1908 as follows ― Section 9: Courts to try all civil suits unless barred. The Courts
shall (subject to the provisions herein contained) have jurisdiction to try all the suits of a
civil nature accepting suits of which their cognizance is either expressly or impliedly barred.

Classes Of Courts
●​ The Court of the District Judge;
●​ The Court of the Additional Judge;
●​ The Court of the Civil Judge; and
●​ The Court of the Munsif.

Subordination
Section 3 of CPC determines the subordination of the Civil Courts. The District
Court is subordinate to the High Court and all the other Civil Courts are inferior to the
District Court and all the Court of Small Causes are subordinate to the High Court and the
District Court.

Pecuniary Jurisdiction
As per Section 6 of the CPC, every court will have jurisdiction over those disputes which are
within its pecuniary limit and every suit has to be filed in the lowest grade competent to try
it. This pecuniary jurisdiction is decided on the basis of the value of the suit. After the
valuation, the court having pecuniary jurisdiction as well as the territorial jurisdiction over
the matter can try the suit.

For example, a dispute between A and B took place in a certain village of Agra. The value of
the suit is 2 crore. Then, it has to be seen that in this case, the pecuniary jurisdiction lies
with the District Court of Agra which also has territorial jurisdiction in that particular village;
and hence, in this case, the court of lowest grade competent to try this suit will be District
Court of Agra.

The plaintiff needs to mention in its plaint, the facts which show that the court has
jurisdiction over the matter in hand [Order VII Rule 1(f)]. These facts will include the
valuation of the suit as the pecuniary jurisdiction of any court is decided by the value of the
suit.

Court of Small Causes

The Court of Small Causes are established under The Provincial Small Cause Courts Act,
1887. The object of this Act is to consolidate all the laws related to Small Cause Court. In

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this Act, under Section 15(2), it has been directed that all the suits of a civil
nature whose value is not more than five hundred rupees will be cognizable by a Court of
Small Causes, subject to the local rules and orders issued by the High Court.

District Court
The pecuniary limit of the District Court is decided by the High Court. In case of Delhi,
the pecuniary limit of District Court was Rs. 20 Lakh, which after the amendment is
increased to Rs. 2 crore.

High Court
The original pecuniary jurisdiction of a High Court is for the suits wherein the value of the
matter involved is more than 2 crore.

Objection to Pecuniary Jurisdiction

The pecuniary jurisdiction is determined by the value of the suit which the plaintiff
determines and mentions in his plaint. In case of an objection regarding pecuniary
jurisdiction of the court, the trial court will inquire into that and will pass an appropriate
order. In case, the objection is being raised by defendant in an appellate court or a
revisional court, there are three conditions given in Section 21 that needs to be fulfilled and
they are:

●​ The objection was taken in the court of first instance;

●​ At the earliest possible opportunity and in case the issues are settled, before
settlement of issues; and
●​ There has to be a consequent failure of justice.

In the case of Pathumma v Kuntalan Kutty AIR 1981 SC 1683, it was held that it is
necessary that the above mentioned three conditions must co-exist.

Territorial Jurisdiction
The territorial jurisdiction of a court will be determined by the territory in which the subject
matter related to the suit is situated in and the subject matter can be any property,
immovable as well as movable.

Immovable Property
Section 16 of the CPC gives us five kinds of suits related to immovable property, wherein
the suit can be instituted in the court within whose jurisdiction the property is situated,
subject to the pecuniary jurisdiction. The five kinds of suits are:

1.​ For the recovery of immovable property.

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2.​ For the partition of property.

3.​ For foreclosure, sale, or redemption (mortgage), or charge upon the property.
4.​ For determining any other right to or interest in immovable property.
5.​ For compensation for wrong to immovable property.

In case, the suit is being filed to obtain relief or compensation for wrong to immovable
property, it can be instituted at the option of the plaintiff either in the court:

a.​ Within whose local limit the property is situated; or

b.​ Within whose local limit defendant

i.​ actually and voluntarily resides;

ii.​ carries on business; or
iii.​ personally works for gains.

Provided that the following conditions are satisfied:

●​ Property is held by or on behalf of the defendant.

●​ Relief sought can be entirely obtained through the personal obedience of the
defendant.
●​ Property is situated in India.

In case, the property in dispute is situated within the jurisdiction of different courts, as
per Section 17, the suit can be instituted in any of the courts within whose jurisdiction any
portion of the property is situated. The only condition is that the entire claim must be
cognizable by such court.

If there is uncertainty about the jurisdiction of the court with respect to the disputed
property, the suit can be instituted in any of the court, after recording a statement about
the uncertainty. [Section 18]

Movable Property
If the suit is for recovery of movable property which is under attachment, the suit can
be filed in the court within whose local limit such property is situated. [Section 16 (f)]. As
per Section 19, if the suit is regarding compensation for wrongs to person or to any
movable property, the plaintiff will have the option to file the suit either in the court within
whose local limit:

1.​ The wrong was committed; or

2.​ The defendant

a.​ Resides or
b.​ Carries on business, or
c.​ Personally works for gain.

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Other Suits
All other suits, subject to the above-mentioned conditions, can be instituted in any of the
following courts at the option of the plaintiff:

1.​ The court within whose jurisdiction the cause of action arises.
2.​ The court within whose jurisdiction, the defendant resides, or carries on business or
personally works for gain.
3.​ In case there is more than one defendant, the court of the place where any of the
defendants resides or carries on business or personally works for gain. This is with
the condition that either, the leave of the court is taken or there is acceptance by the
other defendant for instituting the suit at such place. [Section 20]

Section 9 only deals with the jurisdiction of the court to try a suit. However, for instituting a
suit, two prerequisites must be fulfilled. The first requirement which is fundamental to the
maintainability of a Civil Suit is the existence of a ‘cause of action‘ as held in Bharat
Aluminium Co. v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical services Inc. 2012 (9) SCC 552, para 173. The
cause of action must be live; neither dead nor in the womb. In para 175 of the same
authority, it has been held that the cause of action should not be contingent/speculative. If
the plaint does not disclose a cause of action, it shall be rejected at the threshold under
Order 7 Rule 11(a), CPC. It has also been held that a suit only for a temporary injunction is
not maintainable. The other prerequisite for instituting a suit is that the plaintiff must have
the right to sue. As far as the right to sue is concerned, it is a common law or inherent right.

When are suits filed in district courts - Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction may be defined to be the power or authority of a court to hear or determine a
cause, to adjudicate and exercise any judicial power in relation to it. In other words, by
jurisdiction is meant the authority which a court has to decide matters that are litigated
before it or to take cognizance of matters presented in a formal way for its decision. Thus,
the jurisdiction of a court means the extent of the authority of a court to administer justice,
prescribed with reference to the subject-matter, pecuniary value and local limits.

If the court has no jurisdiction, consent of the parties or their inaction, cannot confer that
jurisdiction; nor by the consent, jurisdiction can be ousted. The defect of jurisdiction goes to
the root of the matter and strikes at the authority of the court to pass a decree. A decree
passed by a court without jurisdiction is a coram non judice. Similarly, where the court has
jurisdiction to decide a dispute, the same cannot be taken away or ousted by consent of
parties. But if two or more courts have jurisdiction to try the suit, it is open to the parties to
select a particular forum. Such an agreement would be legal, valid and enforceable.

If there is inherent lack of jurisdiction, the decree passed by a civil court is a nullity.
However, if the court has jurisdiction, but it is irregularly exercised, the defect does not go
to the root of the matter, and the error can be remedied in an appeal, etc.

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Decision as to Jurisdiction
Whether a court has jurisdiction or not has to be decided with reference to the initial
assumption of jurisdiction by that court. The question is determinable “at the
commencement, not at the conclusion of the inquiry”. Whenever the jurisdiction of the
court is challenged, the court has inherent jurisdiction to decide the said question. Every
court or tribunal is not only entitled but bound to determine whether the matter in which it
is asked to exercise its jurisdiction comes within its jurisdiction or not.

The Supreme Court in Vankamamidi V. Subba Rao v. Chatlapalli S. Ranganayakamma AIR 1997
SC 3082 observed that it is a settled legal position that if a tribunal with limited jurisdiction
cannot assume jurisdiction and decide for itself the dispute conclusively, in such a situation,
it is the court that is required to decide whether the tribunal with limited jurisdiction has
correctly assumed jurisdiction and decided the dispute within its limits. It is also equally
settled that when jurisdiction is conferred on a tribunal, the courts examine whether the
essential principles of jurisdiction have been followed and decided by the tribunals, leaving
the decision on merits to the tribunals.

The jurisdiction of the court has to be decided on the allegations made by the plaintiff in
the plaint and not on the allegations made by the defendant in the written statement.
Likewise, it is well established that in deciding the question of jurisdiction, what is important
is the substance of the matter and not the form.

The plaintiff chooses his forum and files his suit. If he establishes the correctness of his
facts, he will get his relief from the forums chosen. If he frames his suit in a manner not
warranted by the facts and goes for his relief to a court which cannot grant him relief on
the true facts, he will have his suit dismissed. However, if the jurisdiction is only one relating
to territorial limits or pecuniary limits, the plaint will be ordered to be returned for
presentation before the proper court.

Kinds of Jurisdiction - Pecuniary Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction means the extent of the authority of a court to administer justice not only with
reference to the subject-matter of the suit but also to the local and pecuniary limits of its
jurisdiction.

Throughout India, there are a larger number of civil courts of different ‘grades’ having
jurisdiction to try suits or hear appeals of different amounts or value. The CPC provides that
a court will have jurisdiction only over those suits, the amount or value of the
subject-matter of which does not exceed the pecuniary limits of its jurisdiction.

Pecuniary Jurisdiction is related to money, and whether a court can try cases and suits of
monetary value/amount of the case or suit in question. Pecuniary limits are allotted to each
court and are revised from time to time, keeping in mind the prevailing economic
conditions. The ‘subject matter’ of a suit is the determining factor here. The expression

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'subject matter' means not the property involved in the suit, but the relief claimed and its
valuation determines its jurisdiction, i.e., before which court it shall be filed. The Suit
Valuation Act, 7 of 1887, prescribes the mode of valuing certain suits for purposes of
determining jurisdiction and hence, Section 6 of the CPC shall be read within its
accordance. For e.g., in a suit for partition, the value for the purpose of jurisdiction is the
value of the share claimed by the plaintiff and not the value of the estate in which the
partition is sought.

The plaintiff needs to mention in its plaint the facts which show that the court has
jurisdiction over the matter in hand. These facts will include the valuation of the suit as the
pecuniary jurisdiction of any court is decided by the value of the suit. The exercise of the
option by a plaintiff to value his claim for the purpose of court fees determines the value
for the purpose of pecuniary jurisdiction. A subsequent increase in the value of property
takes away the pecuniary jurisdiction of the court.

It sometimes happens that though a suit is prima facie within the jurisdiction of a court, it
becomes necessary to order the payment of an amount which is more than the limits of the
pecuniary jurisdiction of the court. In suits for pre-emption of land or suits challenging
alienations under custom, the value for purposes of jurisdiction may be much less than the
amount for which the alienation has taken place. In such cases, where the court has to
order the payment of a higher amount than its pecuniary jurisdiction, it should report the
case to the District Judge for its transfer to a court of competent jurisdiction. The Senior
Sub-Judge should also keep the scale and mortgage amount in view at the time of
distribution of such cases to various courts.

Kinds of Jurisdiction – Territorial Jurisdiction

Section 20 of the CPC provides that for any suit, every plaintiff may file a suit in the court of
law within whose local limits the defendant against whom claim arises voluntarily resides or
carries business. The Section further states that the suit may also be filed within the limits
of the location wherein the cause of action arises. Causes of action are known as the facts
in regard to claim relief that give the plaintiff the right to bring a legal action.

In situations wherein there are multiple defendants, the suit can be instituted in any court
within whose jurisdiction any of the defendants resides or carries out business. Similarly,
the CPC also provides that in cases the property is situated within the jurisdiction of more
than one court, then the plaintiff may file the suit in either of the court within whose
jurisdiction any portion of the property is situated.

A suit can only be known to be ‘filed’ after obtaining the leave of the court or by the way of
other defendants acquiescing it. The Supreme Court has laid down the rule that the plea of
absence of jurisdiction can be raised and entertained at any stage.

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The hierarchy of civil courts in India is exhibited as follows:

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