JOHNSON PAINTS PVT LTD Vs. JOHNSON PAINTS CO.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The defendant in Commercial Dispute Case No. 02 of 2023 is before this Court against the order of the learned District Judge, Patna dtd. 4/1/2024, who is the designated court under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

(2.) Shri Y.V.Giri, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondent/plaintiff, raised a preliminary objection that the appeal is not maintainable since the order is not one under Order XLIII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. It is pointed out that the order only makes over the case to the Additional District Judge (for brevity 'ADJ'), which cannot be faulted and surely not entitled to be challenged in an appeal. Reliance is placed on Jaycee Housing Private Limited and Ors. v. Registrar (General) Orissa High Court, Cuttack and Ors., (2023) 1 SCC 549 and Yamini Manohar v. T.K.D. Keerthi, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1382.

(3.) Shri S.D.Sanjay, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant, submits that the order has two limbs, one the waiver of Sec. 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (for brevity 'C.C.Act'), which is not permissible and the other making over of the records of the case to the learned ADJ-XIV. Reliance is placed on Patil Automation Private Limited v. Rakheja Engineers Private Limited, (2022) 10 SCC 1, to contend that the pre-institution mediation and settlement, as provided under Sec. 12A, could not have been avoided. Insofar as the making over of the records of the case to the ADJ; Annexure-A/17 Notification dtd. 2/8/2019 is specifically referred to; wherein the courts in all the districts of the State of Bihar have been constituted as Commercial Courts to exercise original jurisdiction in respect of commercial disputes, where the value of suits of disputes exceeds rupees one crore. Reliance is also placed on a decision of a co-ordinate Bench in MJC No. 1323 of 2018, titled as M/s Vishal Builtech India Pvt. Ltd. Vs. The Union of India and Ors. dtd. 3/8/2018.