Commercial Courts Act, 2015
No: 4 Dated: Dec, 31 2015
The Commercial Courts Act, 2015
(Act No. 4 of 2016)
An Act to provide for the constitution of Commercial Courts, [Commercial Appellant Courts] Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in the High Courts for adjudicating commercial disputes of specified value and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
CHAPTER I
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 23rd day of October, 2015.
2. Definitions. - (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Commercial Appellate Courts" means the Commercial Appellate Courts designated under section 3A;
(aa) "Commercial Appellate Division" means the Commercial Appellate Division in a High Court constituted under sub-section (1) of section 5;
(b) "Commercial Court" means the Commercial Court constituted under sub-section (1) of section 3;
(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;
(xii) shareholders agreements;
(xiii) subscription and investment agreements pertaining to the services industry including outsourcing services and financial services;
(xiv) mercantile agency and mercantile usage;
(xv) partnership agreements;
(xvi) technology development agreements;
(xvii) intellectual property rights relating to registered and unregistered trademarks, copyright, patent, design, domain names, geographical indications and semiconductor integrated circuits;
(xviii) agreements for sale of goods or provision of services;
(xix) exploitation of oil and gas reserves or other natural resources including electromagnetic spectrum;
(xx) insurance and re-insurance;
(xxi) contracts of agency relating to any of the above; and
(xxii) such other commercial disputes as may be notified by the Central Government.
Explanation. - A commercial dispute shall not cease to be a commercial dispute merely because-
(a) it also involves action for recovery of immovable property or for realisation of monies out of immovable property given as security or involves any other relief pertaining to immovable property;
(b) one of the contracting parties is the State or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, or a private body carrying out public functions;
(d) "Commercial Division" means the Commercial Division in a High Court constituted under sub-section (1) of section 4;
(e) "District Judge" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (a) of article 236 of the Constitution of India;
(f) "document" means any matter expressed or described upon any substance by means of letters, figures or marks, or electronic means, or by more than one of those means, intended to be used, or which may be used, for the purpose of recording that matter;
(g) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette and the expression "notify" with its cognate meanings and grammatical variations shall be construed accordingly;
(h) "Schedule" means the Schedule appended to the Act; and
(i) "Specified Value", in relation to a commercial dispute, shall mean the value of the subject-matter in respect of a suit as determined in accordance with section 12 [which shall not be less than three lakh rupees] or such higher value, as may be notified by the Central Government.
(2) The words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in that Code and the Act.