Chapter IV MISCELLANEOUS

In the event of the death of the Principal District Judge or of his being prevented from performing his duties by illness or otherwise or of his absence on leave from the station in which his court is held, the Additional District Judge of the district and if there are more than one Additional District Judges, the senior most among them and if there is no Additional District Judge in the district, the senior most Senior Civil Judge in the district, shall, without interruption to his ordinary duties assume charge of the office of the Court of Principal District Judge and while so in charge perform the duties of the Principal District Judge with respect to the filing of the suits and appeals, receiving pleadings, execution of processes, return of writs and the like, and shall continue in charge of the said court until the same is resumed by a judge duly posted thereto.

In the event of death, suspension or temporary absence of any Principal Senior Civil Judge or Principal Civil Judge, the Principal District Judge may empower any Senior Civil Judge or Civil Judge in the district to perform such duties of such Principal Senior Civil Judge or Principal Civil Judge, as the case may be, as specified in section 20 either at the place of such court or of his own court, but in every such case the registers and records of the two courts shall be kept distinct.

(1) The civil courts in the State shall be closed on such days as may be notified by the High Court as public holidays for the whole State or for such area in the State.

(2) The civil courts in the State shall have such number of vacations in each year as the High Court may declare but the total number of days of such vacations shall not exceed thirty days.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in the Code, the High Court, may, by general or special order appoint the Principal District Judge or an Additional District Judge or a Senior Civil Judge as vacation judge for the District and for the duration of the adjournment of the court of Principal District Judge in any vacation or any part thereof and regulate the work to be discharged by the vacation judge.

(4) The local limits of jurisdiction of the vacation judge shall be the same as those of the Court of Principal District Judge concerned and his jurisdiction shall extend to all suits, appeals and other proceedings pending in or cognizable by any civil court in the district concerned.

(5) The vacation judge shall hold his court at the place at which court of Principal District Judge is normally held and he shall have administrative control over all the staff of all civil courts in the district.

(6) Notwithstanding the appointment of a vacation judge every civil court in the district shall, during the period it is adjourned for any vacation, be deemed to be closed for the purpose of section 4 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

(7) On the reopening of any civil court after any vacation all suits, appeals and other proceedings pending before the vacation judge shall stand transferred to the civil court concerned in which it would have been instituted or pending but for the appointment of the vacation judge any decree, order or proceedings passed by the vacation judge shall be deemed to be a decree, order or proceeding passed by the court concerned.

(1) Subject to the other provisions of this Act and the rules and any other law for the time being in force, all civil courts in a district including the staff thereof shall, subject to the control of the High Court, be subordinate to the Court of District Judge.

(2) The civil courts shall maintain such forms, books of accounts, records, registers and the like as may be specified by the High Court in consultation with the State Government.

(3) The State Government may, for discharging its functions and responsibilities, require, through the High Court, the civil courts to furnish to the Government such particulars and information relating to the working of the courts and other matters as may be called for from time to time.

(1) The High Court may by general or special order invest any Senior Civil Judge, within such local limits and subject to such pecuniary limitation as may be specified in such order, with all or any of the powers of a District Judge or a Court of District Judge, as the case may be, under the Divorce Act, 1869, the Succession Act, 1925, the Special Marriage Act, 1954, or the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890.

(2) Every order made by a Senior Civil Judge by virtue of the powers conferred upon him under sub-section (1) shall be subject to an appeal to the High Court where the amount or value of the subject matter exceeds rupees five lakhs or to the Court of District Judge where the amount or value of the subject matter does not exceed rupees five lakhs.

(3) Every order of a Court of District Judge passed on appeal under sub-section (2) from the order of a Senior Civil Judge shall be subject to an appeal to the High Court under the rules contained in the Code applicable to appeals from appellate decrees.

The High Court shall from time to time, with the sanction of the State Government, prescribe and regulate by rules, the fees to be taken for any process issued by any civil court. Such rules may provide for payment of process fee in a lump sum in advance alongwith the plaint.

Except as otherwise provided any powers that may be conferred by the High Court on any person under this Act may be conferred on such person either by name or by virtue of office.

(1) No subordinate court other than the court of a Senior Civil Judge and no Court of Small Cause shall receive or register any suit in which the Government or any officer of the Government in his official capacity is a party.

(2) In every such case, the plaintiff shall be referred to the court of the Senior Civil Judge. Such suit shall be instituted only in the court of the Senior Civil Judge and shall be heard by such Senior Civil Judge subject to the provisions of section 24 of the Code.

The High Court shall constitute a consultative committee for each district, consisting of such number of members and in such manner as may be prescribed, for making suggestions for the infrastructural facilities in the courts, improvement of work culture, co-ordination between the bar, bench and other authorities and for the matter incidental thereto.

(1) The High Court may, after previous publication, by notification, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :-

(a) the manner in which the proceedings of each civil court shall be kept and recorded; (b) regulating the grant of certified copies of papers in civil court; (c) regulating the duties and functions of the ministerial officers of the civil courts; (d) regulating the issue of licenses by the Principal District Judge of the district to persons to act as petition writers in civil courts in that district and the conduct of business by them and the scale of fees to be charged by them; (e) providing a penalty of such amount not exceeding five hundred rupees for breach of the rules made under clause (d) and the authority who could investigate the breach of rules and impose the penalty; (f) forms, books, registers, records and accounts to be maintained by the civil courts; (g) payment of process fees in lump sum in advance alongwith the plaint or otherwise; (h) the manner in which a consultative committee may be constituted for each district; (i) any other matter, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act which, in the opinion of the High Court, may be prescribed for the effective enforcement of the Act.

(1) On and from the appointed date the Bombay Civil Courts Act, 1869, in its application to the State of Gujarat, shall stand repealed.

(2) Such repeal shall not affect the previous operation of the enactment so repealed and any thing done or any action taken including the districts formed, limits defined, courts established or constituted, appointments, rules or orders made, functions assigned, powers granted, seals or forms prescribed, jurisdiction defined or vested and notifications or notices issued by or under the provisions of the said Act and deemed to have been done or taken under the provisions thereof shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act and shall continue in force unless and until superseded by anything done or any action taken under this Act.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or any other provisions of this Act or in the enactment repealed by sub-section (1) or in any other law or provision having the force of law, all suits, appeals and proceedings connected therewith, pending before any court, which under this Act have to be instituted or commenced in another court, shall, on the appointed day, stand transferred to such other court and shall be continued and disposed of by such other court in accordance with law as if such suit and proceedings had been instituted or commenced in such other court under this Act.

(4) If there be any doubt as to which court any suit, appeal or proceedings shall stand transferred or as to which court any appeal shall be preferred in accordance with the provisions of this Act the court designated by the High Court shall be the court to which such suit, appeal or proceedings shall be transferred or such appeal shall be preferred, and the decision of the High Court shall be final.

(5) Notwithstanding such repeal, the provisions of section 7 of the Bombay General Clauses Act, 1904 shall apply in relation to the repeal of the Bombay Civil Courts Act, 1869 as if the Act had been an enactment within the meaning of the said section 7.

(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act in consequence of the transition to the said provisions from the provisions of any enactment or law in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, the State Government in consultation with the High Court may by notification; make such provisions as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty.

(2) No such notification shall be issued after expiry of two years from the date of commencement of this Act.