The Commercial Courts Act 2015: Complete Guide for District Judge Interview

 Overview and Background

The Commercial Courts Act 2015 was enacted as a landmark legislation to establish specialized commercial courts and streamline the resolution of high-value commercial disputes in India. This Act addresses the critical need for faster, more efficient dispute resolution in commercial matters, directly supporting India's Ease of Doing Business initiative.

Key Objective: To create a specialized legal framework that reduces delays in commercial litigation and makes India more attractive for business and investment.

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Simplified Amended CPC as applicable to Commercial court Act for District Judge Interview

 1. Theme of Commercial CPC Amendments

• 3S Formula: Speed + Sincerity + Sanctions

• Applies to: Commercial disputes of specified value (Commercial Courts Act)

2. Written Statement (WS) – Hard Deadline Formula

• Basic: WS within 30 days from service of summons

• Extension: Court may allow up to +90 days, with reasons + costs

• Absolute cap: 30 + 90 = 120 days (max)

• After 120 days: Right to file WS forfeited; WS cannot be taken on record

• Relevant: O.V r.1 proviso, O.VIII r.1 proviso, O.VIII r.10 proviso

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SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT" IN RE: TO ISSUE CERTAIN GUIDELINES REGARDING INADEQUACIES AND DEFICIENCIES IN CRIMINAL TRIALS" FOR SPEEDY TRIAL OF CRIMINAL CASES

 1) Leading Supreme court judgment laying down procedure for expeditious trial of Criminal cases.

REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

SUO MOTO WRIT (CRL) NO.(S) 1/2017

IN RE: TO ISSUE CERTAIN GUIDELINES REGARDING INADEQUACIES AND DEFICIENCIES IN CRIMINAL TRIALS 

Vs THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH 

Coram: S.A. BOBDE J, L. NAGESWARA RAO J, S. RAVINDRA BHAT J

Dated: April 20, 2021.

https://www.lawweb.in/2021/04/supreme-court-directs-high-courts-to.html

2) What are Supreme court Guidelines if investigating officer does not file documents favourable to accused at the time of filing of chargesheet? 

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Delhi HC: Provisions of Case Management hearing Under the Commercial courts Act empowers the court to set time limit for addressing oral arguments by the parties

The counsel for the plaintiff states that a direction is sought for limiting the time for addressing oral arguments. {Para 4}

Rule 2 inter alia includes fixing the date on which oral arguments are to be heard by the Court and setting time limits for the parties and their advocates to address oral arguments.{Para 8}.

12. The counsel for the defendant of course controverts but is unable to. However, on enquiry as to how much time the defendant will take to address arguments, refuses to commit.

13. The application is disposed of, binding the plaintiff to the aforesaid time limits and clarifying, that after the opening arguments of the counsel for the plaintiff, the Court shall, if need be, limit the time for addressing oral arguments on behalf of the defendant.

 In the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi

(Before Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, J.)

Roland Corporation Vs  Sandeep Jain

CS (COMM) 565/2018, 

Decided on January 15, 2019

Citation:

2019 SCC OnLine Del 6557 : (2019) 196 AIC 723

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What are powers of the court under Case Management Hearing under Commercial Courts Act?

6. Powers of the Court in a Case Management Hearing. — (1) In any Case Management Hearing held under this Order, the Court shall have the power to—

(a) prior to the framing of issues, hear and decide any pending application filed by the parties under Order XIII-A;

(b) direct parties to file compilations of documents or pleadings relevant and necessary for framing issues;

(c) extend or shorten the time for compliance with any practice, direction or Court order if it finds sufficient reason to do so;

(d) adjourn or bring forward a hearing if it finds sufficient reason to do so;

(e) direct a party to attend the Court for the purposes of examination under Rule 2 of Order X;

(f) consolidate proceedings;

(g) strike off the name of any witness or evidence that it deems irrelevant to the issues framed;

(h) direct a separate trial of any issue; (i) decide the order in which issues are to be tried;

(j) exclude an issue from consideration;

(k) dismiss or give judgment on a claim after a decision on a preliminary issue;

(l) direct that evidence be recorded by a Commission where necessary in accordance with Order XXVI;

(m) reject any affidavit of evidence filed by the parties for containing irrelevant, inadmissible or argumentative material;

(n) strike off any parts of the affidavit of evidence filed by the parties containing irrelevant, inadmissible or argumentative material;

(o) delegate the recording of evidence to such authority appointed by the Court for this purpose;

(p) pass any order relating to the monitoring of recording the evidence by a commission or any other authority;

(q) order any party to file and exchange a costs budget;

(r) issue directions or pass any order for the purpose of managing the case and furthering the overriding objective of ensuring the efficient disposal of the suit.

(2) When the Court passes an order in exercise of its powers under this Order, it may—

(a) make it subject to conditions, including a condition to pay a sum of money into Court; and

(b) specify the consequence of failure to comply with the order or a condition.

(3) While fixing the date for a Case Management Hearing, the Court may direct that the parties also be present for such Case Management Hearing, if it is of the view that there is a possibility of settlement between the parties.

7. Adjournment of Case Management Hearing. — (1) The Court shall not adjourn the Case Management Hearing for the sole reason that the advocate appearing on behalf of a party is not present : Provided that an adjournment of the hearing is sought in advance by moving an application, the Court may adjourn the hearing to another date upon the payment of such costs as the Court deems fit, by the party moving such application.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Rule, if the Court is satisfied that there is a justified reason for the absence of the advocate, it may adjourn the hearing to another date upon such terms and conditions it deems fit.

8. Consequences of non-compliance with orders. — Where any party fails to comply with the order of the Court passed in a Case Management Hearing, the Court shall have the power to—

(a) condone such non-compliance by payment of costs to the Court;

(b) foreclose the non-compliant party's right to file affidavits, conduct cross-examination of witnesses, file written submissions, address oral arguments or make further arguments in the trial, as the case may be, or

(c) dismiss the plaint or allow the suit where such non-compliance is wilful, repeated and the imposition of costs is not adequate to ensure compliance.”

 In the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi

(Before Vibhu Bakhru and Amit Mahajan, JJ.)

Surya Food and Agro Limited Vs Om Traders and Another 

RFA(OS)(COMM) 28/2019

Decided on January 20, 2023

Citation: 2023 SCC OnLine Del 265.

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What is difference in procedure for trial of civil suit before civil court and commercial courts?

 In India, the procedures for trial of civil suits before a regular civil court and those under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, are distinct. The differences are mainly due to the nature of the disputes they handle and the procedural requirements aimed at expediting commercial litigation. Here’s a detailed comparison:

Civil Court Procedures (under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908):

1. Nature of Disputes:

   • Civil courts handle a wide array of civil disputes, including property disputes, family matters, contract disputes, tort claims, etc.

2. Pleadings:

   • The plaint and written statement are filed with general requirements. There is some flexibility regarding amendments to pleadings.

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Supreme court mandates a preliminary case management hearing in all criminal trial

  This court is of the opinion that the courts in all criminal trials should, at the beginning of the trial, i.e. after summoning of the accused, and framing of charges, hold a preliminary case management hearing. This hearing may take place immediately after the framing of the charge. In this hearing, the court should consider the total number of witnesses, and classify them as eyewitness, material witness, formal witness (who would be asked to produce documents, etc) and experts. At that stage, the court should consider whether the parties are in a position to admit any document (including report of experts, or any document that may be produced by the accused, or relied on by her or him). If so, the exercise of admission/denial may be carried out under Section 294, Cr. PC, for which a specific date may be fixed. The schedule of recording of witnesses should then be fixed, by giving consecutive dates. Each date so fixed, should be scheduled for a specific number of witnesses. However, the concerned witnesses may be bound down to appear for 2-3 consecutive dates, in case their depositions are not concluded. Also, in case any witness does not appear, or cannot be examined, the court shall indicate a fixed date for such purpose. The recording of deposition of witnesses shall then be taken up, after the scheduling exercise is complete. This court has appropriately carried out necessary amendments to the Draft Rules. {Para 17}

REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

SUO MOTO WRIT (CRL) NO.(S) 1/2017

IN RE: TO ISSUE CERTAIN GUIDELINES REGARDING INADEQUACIES AND DEFICIENCIES IN CRIMINAL TRIALS  Vs THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH 

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Important provisions of Commercial courts Act 2015

1. Short title, extent and commencement.

2. Definitions.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(c) “commercial dispute” means a dispute arising out of—

(i) ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents, including enforcement and interpretation of such documents;

(ii) export or import of merchandise or services;

(iii) issues relating to admiralty and maritime law;

(iv) transactions relating to aircraft, aircraft engines, aircraft equipment and helicopters, including sales, leasing and financing of the same;

(v) carriage of goods;

(vi) construction and infrastructure contracts, including tenders;

(vii) agreements relating to immovable property used exclusively in trade or commerce;

(viii) franchising agreements;

(ix) distribution and licensing agreements;

(x) management and consultancy agreements;

(xi) joint venture agreements;

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Supreme Court Guidelines for speedy trial of Criminal cases

 The following practice guidelines should be followed by trial courts in the conduct of a criminal trial, as far as possible:

i. a detailed case-calendar must be prepared at the commencement of the trial after framing of charges;

ii. the case-calendar must specify the dates on which the examination-in-chief and cross-examination (if required) of witnesses is to be conducted;

iii. the case-calendar must keep in view the proposed order of production of witnesses by parties, expected time required for examination of witnesses, availability of witnesses at the relevant time, and convenience of both the prosecution as well as the defence, as far as possible;

14 “309. Power to postpone or adjourn proceedings.–(1) In every inquiry or trial the proceedings shall be continued from day-to-day until all the witnesses in attendance have been examined, unless the Court finds the adjournment of the same beyond the following day to be necessary for reasons to be recorded…”

See also Vinod Kumar v. State of Punjab, (2015) 3 SCC 220; and, Lt. Col. S.J. Chaudhary v. State (Delhi Administration), (1984) 1 SCC 722.

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iv. testimony of witnesses deposing on the same subject-matter must be proximately scheduled;

v. the request for deferral under Section 231(2) of the Cr.P.C. must be preferably made before the preparation of the case-calendar;

vi. the grant for request of deferral must be premised on sufficient reasons justifying the deferral of cross-examination of each witness, or set of witnesses;

vii. while granting a request for deferral of cross-examination of any witness, the trial courts must specify a proximate date for the cross-examination of that witness, after the examination-in-chief of such witness(es) as has been prayed for;

viii. the case-calendar, prepared in accordance with the above guidelines, must be followed strictly, unless departure from the same becomes absolutely necessary;

ix. in cases where trial courts have granted a request for deferral, necessary steps must be taken to safeguard witnesses from being subjected to undue influence, harassment or intimidation.

REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1321 OF 2018

[Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 4652 of 2018]

State of Kerala  V   Rasheed 

Dated: October 30, 2018.

Author: INDU MALHOTRA, J.
Citation: AIR 2019 SC 721

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