SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has reaffirmed that it retains both ordinary and extraordinary original civil jurisdiction, despite the de-operationalization of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, 1957, and the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
This was clarified by a bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar, which addressed legal questions concerning the court’s authority to hear arbitration disputes.
Justice Dhar, in his ruling, observed that the court continues to hold ordinary original civil jurisdiction and extraordinary original civil jurisdiction.
These remarks were made while hearing petitions filed by Zaffar Abbas Din and Nasir Hamid Khan, which involved commercial arbitration disputes.
The key legal question was whether the High Court, after the constitutional changes in 2019, retained its original civil jurisdiction and whether it could hear arbitration cases without a designated Commercial Division under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
The petitioners, represented by Senior Counsel Z A Shah and Advocate Shariq J Reyaz, argued that after the 2019 constitutional changes, the High Court no longer had the authority to hear civil suits and arbitration matters under its original jurisdiction.
They also pointed out that the absence of a Commercial Division, as required by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, limited the court’s jurisdiction over commercial disputes.
In his judgement, Justice Dhar clarified that while the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, 1957, had been de-operationalized, the Letters Patent of 1943 remained in effect.
The Letters Patent, issued by the Maharaja on August 28, 1943, governs the practice and procedure in the High Court and confers ordinary and extraordinary original jurisdiction.
Justice Dhar highlighted that Section 77 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, ensured the continuity of pre-existing rules and procedures unless specifically repealed.
On the issue of commercial arbitration, Justice Dhar noted that under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, a High Court must have a designated Commercial Division to hear arbitration matters involving commercial disputes of specified value.
Since no such division has been constituted in Jammu and Kashmir, the court ruled that pending arbitration cases cannot proceed. Justice Dhar directed the Registrar General to expedite the establishment of a Commercial Division in the High Court.