Nasir Azam
Srinagar, May 11 : The Jammu & Kashmir Government has directed its law officers to invoke “The Specific Relief Act-1963” and “The Commercial Courts Act- 2015” in the cases where infrastructural projects could get stalled due to court stays.
In a circular, accessed by news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has said that a number of civil suits are pending/filed in which injunctions are sought for staying of infrastructural projects and these projects get stalled due to court orders. “It is necessary to bring the provisions of the Specific Relief Act into knowledge of all concerned so that an effective defense is projected before the Hon’ble courts wherever such suits are pending/filled,” the circular states.
The Department has drawn attention of the law officers towards section 20A and section 20B of The Special Relief Act, which were inserted through an amendment made in the law in 2018.
As per section 20A of The Special Relief Act, no injunction shall be granted by a court in a suit under this Act involving a contract relating to an infrastructure project specified in the schedule, where granting injunction would cause impediment or delay in the progress or completion of such infrastructure project.
The special courts have already been constituted in J&K in terms of section 20-B of the Specific Relief Act-1963.
Similarly, The Commercial Courts Act-2015 provides that cases other than for granting interim relief shall not instituted unless the plaintiff exhausts the remedy of pre- institution mediation “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- institution mediation in accordance with such manner and procedure as may be prescribed by rules made by the Central Government,” reads section 12A of The Commercial Courts Act.
The J&K government has already constituted commercial courts and the central government has already authorized the state authority/district authority for purposes of proceedings under The Commercial Courts Act-2015—(KNO)
