The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Act Act no. 4 of 2016) being the Parliament’s Act enacted with the aim and object to make provisions for the constitution of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in the High Courts to adjudicate commercial disputes of specified value. The present enactment has received the assent of the honourable President of India on 31st day of December, 2015. And it was given retrospective effect with effect from 23rd day of October, that year.
Moreover, this law is making provisions in its provided seven chapters, schedule and several orders and its provisions are divided into all such chapters. The first chapter of the Act is dealing with the preliminary provisions, in which the short title of the Act is given as the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015. Moreover its provisions were sought to be extended to the entire territories of India, and just the territories of State of Jammu and Kashmir are exempted from its extension. Moreover, this chapter also includes the definitions of the several terms as used in the provisions of the Act. Particularly, the term ‘Commercial Dispute’ is defined under this Act as any dispute related to transactions between merchants, bankers, financiers, traders, etc. Such transactions deal with mercantile documents, partnership agreements, intellectual property rights, etc. Moreover, the term ‘Specified Value of a Dispute’ here means an amount not below one crore rupees, and will be specified by the Central Government.
Second chapter in this Act is dealing with the constitution of the said courts in the different levels. Firstly, the commercial courts are to be constituted by the State Government at the District level equivalent to the district courts. Moreover, Commercial divisions in the High Courts are also required to be constituted in the High Courts exercising ordinary original civil jurisdiction. And at the appellate level, Commercial appellate divisions may be set up in all high Courts for hearing appeal against the orders of the Commercial divisions of the high courts or against the orders of the commercial courts or even appeals against domestic and international arbitration matters.
Further, this Act in its subsequent chapters also providing for the appointment of the judges, nominations, etc. and also the process to deal with the matters, appeals disposition, transfer of the pending suits etc.
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