Only when a pending suit relating to a commercial dispute is transferred to the Commercial Division, the provisions of Commercial Courts Act, 2015 will apply and till such time, the mandatory time period of 120 days for filing written statement would not apply – Dish TV India Ltd. Vs. Gulf DTH FZ LLC and Ors. – Delhi High Court
August 7, 2024
Hon’ble Delhi High Court held that:
(i) Only when a pending suit relating to a ‘commercial dispute’ is transferred to the Commercial Division, the provisions of Commercial Courts Act will apply and till such time, the mandatory time period of 120 days for filing written statement would not apply.
(ii) Till the time the present suit was converted into a commercial suit, it continued to be an ordinary civil suit.
(iii) Once, the suit pertaining to a ‘commercial dispute’ has not been filed as a commercial suit before the commercial division, the said suit cannot automatically be treated as a commercial suit unless a competent court declares the same to be a commercial suit and directs conversion of the suit into a commercial suit.
(iv) The provisions of the Commercial Courts Act, including the time period for filing of the written statement, would apply from the date on which the suit was converted to a commercial suit.
(v) The present suit would qualify as a pending suit and in terms of Section 15 of the Commercial Courts Act, was required to be transferred to the Commercial Division of this Court.
