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Commercial suit against foreign residents – Section 20(c) CPC – Jurisdiction & Private International Law

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The defendant no.1 is UK Company and part of the USA multinational company.  Defendant No.2 is UK resident and Project Manager of Defendant No.1.

Defendant No.3 is Indian Company but part of A Schulman.   Defendant Nos.4 and 5 are the officials of Respondent no.1.

The plaintiff filed the commercial suit in respect of booking of tickets and remittance of GBP 50000.

Defendant Nos.1 and 2 filed application for dismissal of the suit that defendant no.1 does not carry business in India and they had no submitted to the jurisdiction of the High Court.

The District Judge rejected the application on the ground that the defendant nos.1 and 2 had in fact submitted it to the jurisdiction of the Court by not giving reply to the pre-suit notice, filing application to set aside ex parte order and filing written statement.   Therefore, the plaintiff cannot be rejected.

HELD that the provisions of Section 20[c] of CPC provide the necessary jurisdictional competence to the Commercial Court at Pune.  The order of the District Judge deserves to be affirmed though the view that the defendant nos.1 and 2 had submitted to the jurisdiction of the Commercial Court cannot be sustained.

The presumption is in favour of existence of the jurisdiction rather than its exclusion. The rigid rule of Private International Law that a foreign resident cannot be proceeded against unless he voluntarily submits to the jurisdiction of the domestic Court, despite the cause of action having been arisen within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the domestic Court, is also required to be appreciated in the light of the paradigm change in the mode of businesses, especially on a virtual platform. The geographical boundaries and logistical barriers to trade and commerce have long perished. With the globalization and exponential increase in the business transactions on virtual mode, it may not be appropriate to take a very constricted view, where a cause of action arises within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the domestic Court. Lest, the aggrieved party may be rendered virtually remediless.

Judgment dated 17.4.2025 of the High Court of Bombay in Writ Petition No.9148 of 2023 (AS) of A Schulman Inc Ltd and another   Vs.  Odyssey Tours and Travels, Pune and others 

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