BOMBAY CITY CIVIL COURT ACT,
1948 THE
BOMBAY CITY CIVIL COURT ACT, 1948 [Bombay
Act, No. XL of 1948][1] [10thMay,
1948] An Act to
establish an additional Civil Court for Greater Bombay WHEREAS it is expedient to
establish an additional Civil Court for the Greater Bombay; It is hereby
enact-ed as follows:-- (1) This Act
may be called the Bombay City Civil Court Act, 1948. (2) It shall
come into force on such date[2]as
the[3]
[State] Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in
this behalf. In this Act unless there is
anything repugnant in the subject or context,-- (1) "City
Court" means the Court established under section 3; (2) "High
Court" means the High Court of Judicature at Bombay; (3) "Institution
fee" means the court-fee payable in respect of the plaint or application
by which a suit or proceeding is instituted; (4) "Small
Cause Court" means the Court of Small Causes of Bombay; (5) "Special
law" means a law applicable to a particular subject. The[4][State]
Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, establish for the
Greater Bombay a court, to be called the Bombay City Civil Court.
Notwithstanding anything contained in any law, such court shall have
jurisdiction to receive, try and dispose of all suits and other proceedings of
a civil nature not exceeding[5][fifty
thousand rupees] in value, and arising within the Greater Bombay, except suits
or proceedings which are congnizable-- (a) by the
High Court as a Court of Admiralty or Vice-Admiralty or as a Colonial Court of
Admiralty, or as a Court having testamentary, intestate or matrimonial
Jurisdiction, or ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? (b) by the
High Court for the relief of insolvent debtors, or (c) by the
High Court under any special law other than the letters Patent; or (d) by the
Small Cause Court: Provided that the[6][State]
Government may, from time to time, after consultation with the High Court, by a
like notification extend, the jurisdiction of the City Court to any suits or
proceedings[7][which are cognizable by
the High Court as a court having testamentary or intestate jurisdiction or for
the relief of insolvent debtors.]
Preamble 1 - THE BOMBAY CITY CIVIL COURT ACT, 1948PREAMBLE
Section 4 - [Deleted]
4. [Power
of[8][State] Government to
enhance jurisdiction of City Court.]
Deleted by Mah. 46 of 1977,
s. 3.
Section 4A - Power of High Court to transfer matrimonial cases to City Court
[9][4A.Power
of High Court to transfer matrimonial cases to City Court.
(1) Notwithstanding
anything contained in any law for the time being in force, the High Court may
at any stage transfer to the City Court any suit or proceeding which is
cognizable by it as a Court having matrimonial jurisdiction and instituted in
such court.
(2) Any suit
or proceeding so transferred shall be heard and disposed of by the City Court
and the City Court shall have all the powers and jurisdiction in respect
thereof as if it had been originally instituted in that Court.
(3) In any
such suit or proceeding institution fees shall be paid, credit being given to
any court fee levied in the High Court and cost incurred in the High Court till
the date of transfer shall be assessed by the City Court in such manner as the[10][State]
Government may, after consultation with the High Court, determine by rules.]
Section 5 - Subordination to and superintendence by High Court
The City Court shall be
deemed to be a court subordinate to and subject to the superintendence of the
High Court within the meaning of the Letters Patent of the High Court and of
the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Section 6 - Appointment of Judges
The[11][State]
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint as many
persons as it thinks fit to be Judges of the City Court.
Section 7 - Powers of Judges when City Court consists of more than one Judge
When the City Court
consists of more than one Judge--
(a) each of
the Judges may exercise all or any of the powers conferred on the Court by this
Act or any other law for the time being in force:
(b) the[12][State]
Government may appoint any one of the Judges to be the principal Judge[13][and
any two other Judges to be called the additional principal Judge];
(c) the
principal Judge may from time to time make such arrangements as he may think
fit for the distribution of the business of the court among the various Judges
thereof;
[14][(d)[15][any
additional principal Judge] may exercise all or any of the powers conferred on
the principal Judge by this Act or any other law for the time being in force,
as the High Court may, from time to time, direct.]
Section 8 - Registrar
8.[16][Registrars]
(1) The[17][State]
Government may appoint an officer to be called the Registrar of the City Court.
He shall be the chief ministerial officer of the Court; and shall exercise such
powers and discharge such duties of a ministerial nature as the Judge of the
City Court, or when the court consists of more than one Judge, the principal
Judge may, from time to time, by rules, direct.[18][The
State Government may also appoint[19][two
officers to be called the additional Registrars] of the City Court.[20][Any
additional Registrar] shall exercise all or any of the powers and discharge all
or any of the duties of the Registrar as the principal Judge may, from time to
time, by rules, direct.]
(2) The[21][State]
Government may, with the previous approval of the High Court, invest the
Registrar and[22][any additional Registrar][23][with
all or any of the following powers of the Judge of the City Court, namely :
(a) the power
to hear and dispose of all applications for permission to sue or defend as
paupers or for dispaupering plaintiffs or defendants permitted to sue or defend
as paupers;
(b) the power
to hear and dispose of all interlocutory applications or matters necessary for
the progress of any suit or other proceedings;
(c) the power
to hear and dispose of all applications for execution of decrees (but in the
case of any application referred to in rule 22 of Order XXI in the Fist
Schedule to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, only when the person to whom the
notice thereunder is served does not appear or offer any objection to the
execution);
(d) the other
powers of the said Judge, not being powers of trying suits and proceedings.]
Section 9 - Questions arising in suits, etc., under Act to be dealt with according to law administered by High Court
Save as otherwise provided
in this Act all questions which arise in suits or other proceedings under this
Act in the City Court shall be dealt with and determined according to the law
for the time being administered by the High Court in the exercise of its
ordinary original civil jurisdiction.
Section 10 - Fees for process
(1) The High
Court shall, from time to time, with the santion of the[24]
[State] Government prescribe and regulate the fees to be taken for any process
issued by the City Court or by any officer of such court.
(2) Table of
the fees so prescribed shall be published in the Official Gazette.
Section 11 - [Deleted]
11. [Repayment
of institution fee under certain circumstances.]
Deleted by Mah. 15 of 1968,
s. 3].
Section 12 - High Court jurisdiction barred except in certain cases
Notwithstanding anything
contained in any law, the High Court shall not have jurisdiction to try suits
and proceedings cognizable by the City Court :
Provided that the High
Court may, for any special reason, find at any stage remove for trial by itself
any suit or proceeding from the City Court.
Section 13 - Costs to be disallowed when plaintiff sues in High Court instead of in City Court
If in any suit instituted
in the High Court the Judge who tries it is of the opinion that it ought to
have been instituted in the City Court and in such suit--
(a) if the
plaintiff does not obtain a decree, the defendant shall be entitled to his
costs as between attorney and client; or
(b) if the
plaintiff obtains a decree for any matter of an amount or value less than the
maximum amount of the pecuniary jurisdiction of the City Court, no costs shall
be allowed to the plaintiff.
Section 14 - Allowance for fees paid in City Court in cases removed to High Court
When any suit or proceeding
is removed for trial to the High Court from the City Court under section 12.
(a) it shall
be heard and disposed of by the High Court in the exercise of its original
civil jurisdiction and the said Court shall have all the powers and
jurisdiction in respect thereof as if it had been originally instituted in such
Court;
(b) court fee
on the scale for the time being in force in the High Court as a court of original
civil jurisdiction shall be payable in that court in respect of the suit or
proceeding therein :
Provided that in the levy
of any such fee which, according to the practice of the court, is credited to
the[25]
[State] Government, credit shall be given for the institution fee already paid
in the City Court.
Section 15 - Appeals and limitation
(1) An appeal
shall lie to the High Court from ?
(a) every
decree passed by the Judge of the City Court, and
(b) such
orders passed by the said Judge as are specified in and to the extent provided
for by section 104 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
(2) The
period of limitation for an appeal from a decree or order of the City Court
shall be thirty days from the day of such decree or order:
[26][Provided
that the High Court may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said
period of thirty days, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by
sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the said period.]
Section 16 - Seal of City Court
The City Court shall use a
seal of such from and dimensions as may be for the time being prescribed by the[27][State]
Government.
Section 17 - Holidays and vacations
(1) The Judge
of the City Court, or when the Court consists of more than one Judge, the
principal Judge, shall, at the commencement of each year, draw up a list of
holidays and vacations to be observed in the court, and shall submit the same
for the approval of the High Court.
(2) Such
list, when it has received such approval, shall be published in the Official
Gazette, and the said holidays and vacations shall be observed accordingly.
Section 18 - Transfer of suits pending in High Court
(1) All suits
and proceedings cognizable by the City Court and pending in the High Court, in
which issues have not been settled or evidence has not been recorded on or
before the date of the coming into force of this Act, shall be transferred to
the City Court and shall be heard and disposed of by the City Court and the
City Court shall have all the powers and jurisdiction thereof as if they had been
originally instituted in that Court.
(2) In any
suit or proceeding to transferred institution fee shall be paid, credit being
given to any court fee levied in the High Court, and costs incurred in the High
Court till the date of the transfer shall be assessed by the City Court in such
manner as the[28][State] Government may,
after consultation with the High Court, determine by rules.
[1] For Statement of Objects
and Reasons, See Bombay Government Gazette, 1948, Part V, page 7.
[2] 16th August 1948 [vide
G.N., H.D., No. 2346/5-(7), dated 14th August 1948].
[3]
The word
"State" was substituted for the word "Provincial" by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[4]
The word
"State" was substituted for the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation
of Laws Order, 1950.
[5]
These
words were substituted for the words "ten thousand rupees" by Mah. 46
of 1977, s. 2.
[6]
The word
"State" was substituted for the word "Provincial" by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[7]
This
portion was substituted for the original by Bom. 26 of 1950, s. 2.
[8] The word "State"
was substituted for the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[9] This section was inserted,
by Bom. 26 of 1950, s. 3.
[10] The word "State"
was substituted for the word "Provincial" by Bom. 9 of 1951, s. 3,
Second Schedule.
[11] The word "State"
was substituted for the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[12]
The word
"State" was substituted for the word "Provincial" by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[13]
The words
were substituted for the word "and any other Judge to be the additional
principal Judge" by Mah. 15 of 1979, s. 2 (a).
[14]
Clause
(d) was added by Mah. 29 of 1968, s. 2(6).
[15] These words were
substituted for the words "the additional principal Judge" by Mah. 15
of 1979, s. 2(b).
[16] These word was substituted for the word "Registrar" by
Mah. 29 of 1968, s. 3(c).
[17] The word "State" was substituted for the word
"Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[18] This portion was added by Mah. 29 of 1968, s. 3(a).
[19] These words were substituted for the words "an officer to be
called the additional Registrar" by Mah. 15 of 1979, s. 3 (a) (i).
[20] The words "Any additional Registrar" were substituted
for the words "The additional Registrar", by Mah. 15 of 1979, s. 3
(a) (ii).
[21] The words "any additional Registrar" were substituted
for the words "the additional Registrar", by Mah. 15 of 1979, s. 3
(b).
[22] The words "any additional Registrar" were substituted
for the words "the additional Registrar", by Mah. 15 of 1979, s. 3
(b).
[23] This portion was substituted for the words "with any powers
of the Judge of the City Court other than powers of trying suits and
proceedings" by Mah. 14 of 1968, s. 2.
[24] This word was substituted for
the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[25] This word was substituted
for the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[26] This proviso was inserted
by Bom. 32 of 1954, s. 3.
[27]
This word
was substituted for the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[28] This word was substituted
for the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.