oppn parties Let the Dispute Choose the Court

News Snippets

  • Sonia Gandhi says the ground has shifted under the Modi government. Addressing the political debate surrounding her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson said the government was insecure and that the present regime was not destined to remain in power. The BJP hit back, accusing her of presenting a selective account of the Congress's political history
  • Terrorists attack CRPF checkpoint in Kulgam, three personnel injured. Motorcycle-borne attackers opened fire at a CRPF checkpoint in Akhran village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Wednesday afternoon. Three personnel were injured, one critically, prompting a security response in the area
  • Hijack threat note found on Kolkata-Mumbai Air India flight. A note found in the washroom of the aircraft before its scheduled 10:20 am departure threatened a hijacking at 11:10 am. Passengers were deboarded and the aircraft moved to an isolation bay for security checks; the airport activated the prescribed safety procedures
  • Reuters investigation finds forged court orders used to block 129 betting websites. The report found that government blocking directions had relied on two purported High Court orders that were not genuine. The Allahabad High Court had confirmed that its attributed order was fake and filed a police complaint; the case raises serious questions about verification before online content is blocked on judicial authority
  • Supreme Court condemns forum shopping by litigants. The Court transferred a commercial dispute from the Delhi High Court to the Madras High Court, observing that parties cannot choose a court merely because multiple courts have territorial jurisdiction. It warned against creating an artificial hierarchy among High Courts
  • Delhi High Court asks government to explain vacancies in child rights commission. The Court directed the Delhi government to provide the status of vacant posts in the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights and indicate when they would be filled
  • The Directorate General of Foreign Trade changed the export policy for the recycled battery material from 'Free' to 'Prohibited' with immediate effect. The move is intended to retain lithium, cobalt, nickel and other critical minerals for domestic recycling and refining, supporting India's battery and electric-vehicle supply chains
  • Moody's raises India's FY27 growth forecast to 7%. The ratings agency revised its projection from 6.5%, citing resilient consumption and improving investment conditions.
  • The Sensex rose 772.75 points (0.95%) to 81,879.40, while the Nifty 50 advanced 210.40 points (0.84%) to 25,255.05 on Wednesday. The indices ended lower after rising much higher intra-day
  • India beat Maldives 1-0 to enter SAFF Championship semi-finals. Suhail Ahmad Bhat converted a penalty in the 38th minute, while goalkeeper Priyansh Dubey made important late saves
  • Jaypal Malviya secures India's first shooting quota for Los Angeles 2028. Malviya won silver in the men's 50m rifle three-positions event at the ISSF World Championships in Doha, finishing behind China's Kai Hu
  • Niraj Kumar wins bronze and a second Olympic shooting quota for India. Kumar finished third in the men's 50m rifle three-positions event at the same championship, securing India's second quota place for Los Angeles 2028
  • Lakshya Sen advances at Japan Masters. Sen defeated Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu Jen 21-19, 21-18 to reach the men's singles Round of 16. He is scheduled to face China's Dong Tianyao in the next round
  • Indian boxer Ambekar Meetei reaches World Championships semi-final. The Indian advanced to the last four in the men's 50kg category, assuring himself at least a bronze medal. He was scheduled to face Colombia's Izzon Jeffrey Arevalo in the semi-final
  • Gunjan assures India another medal at the Youth Olympics. The Indian boxer defeated Mexico's Atena Sofia Juarez Calero 5-0 to reach the women's 48kg semi-final at the Dakar Youth Olympics
Terrorists attack CRPF checkpoint in Kulgam in J&K, three personnel injured /////// Anna Hazare rejected Sonia Gandhi's account of the anti-corruption movement. denying that his 2011-12 India Against Corruption movement had any covert backing from the BJP or RSS
oppn parties
Let the Dispute Choose the Court

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2026-11-12 13:10:31

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The Supreme Court has rightly refused to let litigants treat the High Courts as a marketplace. By transferring a commercial suit between a Karnataka firm and a Tamil Nadu firm from Delhi to Madras, it has restated a basic rule. Territorial jurisdiction in more than one court does not entitle a party to pick the one it likes.

The order of October 28 says that no High Court is better suited than another to a category of disputes. That belief, the bench said, is misguided. High Courts are equal constitutional courts, and a hierarchy among them exists only in the minds of those who profit from it. The Court was also clear that the transfer was not about convenience alone. It was about discouraging the practice.

The practice is widespread. In November 2025 the Supreme Court moved a patent suit from Delhi to Bombay where both companies were based in Mumbai. Earlier this month the Delhi High Court itself returned 17 commercial IP plaints because the links to the capital were thin, online availability and investigator purchases among them. In August it dismissed a PIL with costs of Rs 5 lakh after the petitioner failed to disclose a similar case pending in Bombay. Such filings burden the defendant, who must defend far from home, and they crowd a docket that belongs first to Delhi's own litigants.

The principle needs care in its application. A citizen with a genuine claim against an authority located in Delhi cannot be turned away on grounds of convenience, as the Supreme Court held in June. The test is a real and substantial connection to the forum. A head office, a website and a trap purchase do not meet it. The same test should apply to celebrities who carry personality-rights suits from Mumbai to Delhi. Urgency and anonymous online defendants are real considerations, but a forum's reputation is not a link to it.

Parliament should now settle the law. Section 20 of the Code of Civil Procedure and the special forum clauses in the Trade Marks and Copyright Acts should say plainly what link is enough. Until then, the Bar should read the Court's message closely. A dispute between two southern businesses belongs in a southern court, and that is no insult to Delhi.