A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha found the Karnataka Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2023 and the Karnataka High Court (Amendment) Act, 2023 to be constitutionally valid.
The 2023 amendments removed the earlier distinction under which appeals from suits valued above ₹10 lakh were to be filed before the High Court.
Under the amended regime, all appeals from decrees and orders passed by senior civil Judges in civil matters will lie before the district court.
While the Court upheld the amendments, it read down Section 4 of the Civil Courts Amendment Act, which gave retrospective effect to the amendments from August 28, 2007.
“We find no difficulty in reading down Section 4 of the Civil Courts Amendment Act so as to exclude from its retrospective operation (i) all appeals that stand concluded by final judgments and orders; and (ii) all orders passed in proceedings that are pending,” the Court held.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha found the Karnataka Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2023 and the Karnataka High Court (Amendment) Act, 2023 to be constitutionally valid.
The 2023 amendments removed the earlier distinction under which appeals from suits valued above ₹10 lakh were to be filed before the High Court. Under the amended regime, all appeals from decrees and orders passed by senior civil Judges in civil matters will lie before the district court.
While the Court upheld the amendments, it read down Section 4 of the Civil Courts Amendment Act, which gave retrospective effect to the amendments from August 28, 2007.
“We find no difficulty in reading down Section 4 of the Civil Courts Amendment Act so as to exclude from its retrospective operation (i) all appeals that stand concluded by final judgments and orders; and (ii) all orders passed in proceedings that are pending,” the Court held.
