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2021 (7) TMI 1481

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.... and 3rd defendants are its partners. And the 2nd defendant is said to be the plaintiff's friend. Therefore, acting beyond the call of his business, the plaintiff has given "a friendly loan" to the defendants. The defendants executed a promissory note and issued cheques as well. But the cheques were dishonoured. So, the plaintiff has sued the defendants for recovery. 2. On the last occasion, the defendants pointed out that the suit must be treated as a Summary Suit rather than a Commercial Summary Suit, going by the plaint allegations. In that context, the plaintiff's counsel did not join the issue; instead, he requested the Court treat this Suit as a Summary Suit simpliciter. Then, through an order dt. 5.7.2021, I required the Registry ....

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....t rather than a commercial summary suit, it may direct the Registry to have the suit renumbered as a summary suit. 7. But the learned counsel for the defendants has pointed out that it is allegedly a private transaction between an individual and partners of a firm. Nor has the alleged debt has arisen during any trading activity. So, he has insisted that it must be a simple summary suit. 8. To put the issue in perspective, let us check what section 2 (1) (c) (i) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 says. Section 1 (1) (c) "commercial dispute" means a dispute arising out of- (i) ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents, including enforcement and interpretat....

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....mmercial dispute merely because- (a) it also involves action for recovery of immovable property or for realisation of monies out of immovable property given as security or involves any other relief pertaining to immovable property; (b) one of the contracting parties is the State or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, or a private body carrying out public functions; (Italics supplied) 9. In Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Ltd. v. K.S. Infraspace LLP, [(2020) 15 SCC 585] the Supreme Court considered the above provision. I reckon that decision will clinch the issue. There, the appellant agreed to sell a piece of land to the 2nd respondent. Then, the 2nd respondent assigned all his rights under the agreement to ....

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....subsequently would be of no avail. Ambalal Sarabhai has further observed that "the suits which are not actually relating to commercial dispute but being filed merely because of the high value and with the intention of seeking early disposal would only clog the system and block the way for the genuine commercial disputes which may have to be entertained by the Commercial Courts as intended by the lawmakers". According to it, in commercial disputes as defined, a special procedure is provided for a class of litigation, and a strict procedure must be followed to entertain only that class of litigation in that jurisdiction. 13. As to the facts, Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises has held that the agreement between the parties does not reveal that t....

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....ed with an embarrassing three-digit position in the international rankings on the Ease of Doing Business reckoning, India has come up, among other things, with this legislation. Lumping everything commercial together floods the adjudicatory arteries of the judicial system. The worthier, more truly trade-related disputes, then, take a back seat. A liberal approach may, thus, trigger the law of unintended consequences. Perhaps, Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises avoids that peril. 16. It is trite to observe that, for the Court to determine the nature of the suit, what matters at this stage is the plaint allegations and nothing else. Both the learned counsel agree of section 2, what applies is clause (c) (i) of sub-section (1), the lexical provis....