Jumla Jamidaran vs Jumla Jamidaran and Others

Deepak Gupta, J.—By means of this petition, the Petitioner prays that the case may be transferred from the Court of learned Civil Judge (Jr. Division) Rampur Bushahr to the Court of learned Civil Judge ( Sr. Division) Kinnaur at Reckong Peo.

The case was pending in the Court of District Judge, Kinnaur Civil Division at Rampur Bushahr. The value of the suit for the purpose of Court fee and jurisdiction was Rs. 2.20 lacs. Due to the notification issued by this Court, the Civil Judges (Jr. Divisions) were vested with the powers of pecuniary jurisdiction to hear suits value of which is upto Rs. 5 lacs and Civil Judges (Sr. Divisions) with pecuniary jurisdiction to hear suits valuation of which is upto Rs. 10 lacs. The learned District Judge, Kinnaur (Civil Division) at Rampur held that he had no jurisdiction to decide the suit and therefore, transferred the same to the learned Civil Judge (Jr. Division) Rampur Bushahr.

The only grievance of the Petitioner is that the suit relates to District Kinnaur and should have been transferred to the Court of Civil Judge (Sr. Division) Kinnaur at Reckong Peo, since there is only one Civil Judge in District Kinnaur. It appears that the District Judge went by the pecuniary jurisdiction and did not take into consideration the aspect of the territorial jurisdiction. A Civil Judge (Sr. Division) can hear any suit upto Rs. 10 lacs and if the valuation is under Rs. 5 lacs it cannot be said the suit can only be tried by the Civil Judge (Jr. Division). Therefore, the learned District Judge committed an error while transferring the case to the Civil Judge (Jr. Division).

Therefore, the petition is allowed and the Civil Suit No. 1/2000 now numbered as CS 140-1 of 2010, titled as Jumla Jamidaran R/o Vill. Jangi v. Jumla Jamidaran R/o Vill. Akpa and Ors. shall stand transferred from the Court of Civil Judge (Jr. Division) Rampur Bushahr to the Court of Civil Judge (Sr. Division) Kinnaur at Reckong Peo. The parties through their learned Counsel are directed to appear before the learned Civil Judge (Sr. Division) Kinnaur at Reckong Peo on 8th June, 2011. The Registry is directed to ensure that the copy of this order is immediately sent by Fax to the Court of Civil Judge (Jr. Division) Rampur Bushahr, so that the record can be sent to the Court of Civil Judge (Sr. Division) Kinnaur at Reckong Peo well before the said date. No costs.