TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (10) TMI 1375
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.... Yamini Manohar, defendant in C.S. (Comm.) No. 205/2022, has been rightly dismissed. 2. Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015,[ For short, "the CC Act".] reads: "12A. Pre-litigation Mediation and Settlement:-- (1) A suit, which does not contemplate any urgent interim relief under this Act, shall not be instituted unless the plaintiff exhausts the remedy of pre-litigation mediation in accordance with such manner and procedure as may be prescribed by rules made by the Central Government. (2) For the purposes of pre-litigation mediation, the Central Government may, by notification, authorise-- (i) the Authority, constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987); or (ii) a mediation service provider as ....
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....en in suits which do contemplate urgent interim relief or rather the meaning of the word `contemplate' or urgent interim relief, we need not dwell upon it. The other aspect raised about the word `contemplate' is that there can be attempts to bypass the statutory mediation under Section 12-A by contending that the plaintiff is contemplating urgent interim relief, which in reality, it is found to be without any basis. Section 80(2)CPC permits the suit to be filed where urgent interim relief is sought by seeking the leave of the court. The proviso to Section 80(2) contemplates that the court shall, if, after hearing the parties, is satisfied that no urgent or immediate relief need be granted in the suit, return the plaint for presentat....
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....oes not contemplate any urgent interim relief", wherein the word "contemplate" connotes to deliberate and consider. Further, the legal position that the plaint can be rejected and not entertained reflects application of mind by the court viz. the requirement of `urgent interim relief'. 4. In the present case, it is an accepted fact that an urgent interim relief has been prayed for and the condition that the plaint "contemplates" an urgent interim relief is satisfied. Therefore, the impugned judgment/order of the Delhi High Court dated 08.05.2023, which upholds the order of the District Judge (Commercial Court)-01, South District at Saket, New Delhi dated 06.02.2023, rejecting the application under Order VII, Rule 11 of the Code, is cor....
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.... in a suit which involves urgent interim reliefs. As stated above, if the suit involves urgent interim relief, Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 is inapplicable and it is not necessary for the plaintiff to enter into a pre-institution mediation. 32. Second, a suit, which does not contemplate urgent interim relief, cannot be instituted without exhaustion of pre-institution mediation, as required under Section 12A(1) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. As noted above, the Supreme Court has held that the said provision is mandatory and it is compulsory for a plaintiff to exhaust the remedy of pre-institution mediation, in accordance with the rules before instituting a suit. The Court has no discretion to exempt a plaintiff from ....
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....relief is to be determined solely on the basis of the pleadings and the relief(s) sought by the plaintiff. If a plaintiff seeks any urgent interim relief, the suit cannot be dismissed on the ground that the plaintiff has not exhausted the pre- institution remedy of mediation as contemplated under Section 12A(1) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. 7. We are of the opinion that when a plaint is filed under the CC Act, with a prayer for an urgent interim relief, the commercial court should examine the nature and the subject matter of the suit, the cause of action, and the prayer for interim relief. The prayer for urgent interim relief should not be a disguise or mask to wriggle out of and get over Section 12A of the CC Act. The facts and circ....