Enhance pecuniary limits of Delhi district courts to ₹20 crore, Bar Associations urge Law Minister

Hindustan Times

24-05-2025

New Delhi, The Coordination Committee of All District Courts Bar Associations of Delhi has urged Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to enhance the pecuniary limits of all district courts in the capital from existing ₹2 crore to minimum ₹20 crore, citing growing "inflation".
The committee said the jurisdiction for considering and deciding litigations of civil nature was originally vested with the district courts as well as the high court of Delhi simultaneously wherein the pecuniary jurisdiction for the district courts were for the suits upto valuation of ₹2 crore only since 2015 and all the matters having valuation of more than ₹2 crore were vested with the high court.
A delegation, including the committee's chairman Nagendra Kumar, its spokesperson Neeraj and New Delhi Bar Association Honorary Secretary Tarun Rana, met the minister earlier on Friday and urged him to amend the Delhi High Court Act for enhancement of pecuniary jurisdiction.
Rana claimed that Meghwal assured to do the needful in this regard.
The committee said that the high court has very limited capacity under which it has to deal with criminal, writ as well as appellate jurisdiction against all the district courts and many tribunals.
"It is further pertinent to mention herein that with every passing day, the inflation and other contributory factors result into increase in valuation of every transaction which finally gives rise to increasing number of cases going to the high court and the cases in the district courts keep decreasing," the committee said.
On the other hand, the capacity of the district courts keep increasing from time to time whereas the number of courts in the high court is almost stagnant for many decades, it said.
"The result is that on the one hand number of cases are rising in the HC accumulating pendency and delay where completion of pleadings itself takes more than three years whereas number of courts are increasing in the district courts where the entire case is almost at the stage of disposal within three years," the committee said.
This situation ultimately causes great hardship to litigants and public in general giving a serious impression about delay in delivering justice which at times frustrates the purpose of litigation, it said.
Increasing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the district courts of Delhi would, on the one hand, lessen the burden of the high court of Delhi, the committee claimed.