#THE BOMBAY CIVIL COURTS’ ACT, 1869 
_________ 

##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
________ 

Preamble. 

SECTIONS 

###PART I.—Preliminary. 

1. Short title. Extent of Act. 

2. [Repealed.]. 

###PART II.—Districts and Sadr Stations. 

3. Alteration and creation of Districts. 

4. Position of Sadr station. 

###PART III.—District Courts. 

5. District Judges. 
First District Judges. 

6. Situation of District Court. 

7. Original jurisdiction of District Judge. 

8. His appellate jurisdiction. 

9. Control and inspection of Courts. 

10. Writs and orders. Reports and returns. 

11. Seal of District Judge. 

###PART IV.—Joint Judges. 

12. Power to appoint Joint Judges. 

13. Enactments applying to District Judge to apply to Joint Judge. Joint Judge’s seal. 

###PART V.—Assistant Judges. 

14. Power to appoint Assistant Judges. 

15. Situation of Assistant Judge’s Court. 

16. Original jurisdiction of Assistant Judge. 

17. Appellate jurisdiction of Assistant Judge. 

18. Continuance of Assistant Judge’s appellate jurisdiction. 

19. Power to invest Assistant Judge with powers of District Judge. 

20. Assistant Judge to use seal of District Judge. 

###PART VI.—Subordinate Judges. 

21. Number of Subordinate Civil Courts. 

22. Appointment of Subordinate Judges. 

22A. Power to fix local limits of Jurisdiction of Subordinate Judges. 

23. Situation of Subordinate Courts. 

24. Classes of Subordinate Judges. 
Jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of first class. 
Jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of second class. 

25. Special jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of first class. 

-Subject to verification and confirmation by the Department.

26. Appeals from his decision. 

27. Appellate jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of first class. 

28. Power to invest Subordinate Judges with small cause powers. 

29. Seal of Subordinate Judge. 

30. [Repealed.]. 

31. [Repealed.]. 

32. Reference of Government suits. 

###Removal or suspension. 

33. Commission of enquiry into alleged misconduct. 

34. Suspension of Subordinate Judges by High Court or District Judge. 
Saving of power of Government to suspend or dismiss. 

###PART VII.—*Temporary vacancies.*

35. Temporary vacancy of office of District Judge. 

36. Delegation of powers of District Judge. 

37. Temporary vacancy of office of Subordinate Judge. 

###PART VIII.—*Ministerial Officers.*

38. Appointment, etc., of ministerial officers. 

39. Duties of ministerial officers. 

40. Power to appoint Clerks of the Courts. 

###PART IX.—*Miscellaneous.*

41. Rules for keeping proceedings. 

42. Fees for process. 

43. Sittings of Courts. 

Vacation. 

SCHEDULE.—[*Repealed.*].



#THE BOMBAY CIVIL COURTS’ ACT, 1869 

##ACT NO. 14 OF 1869 

[19th March, 1869.] 

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the District and Subordinate Civil Courts in 
the Presidency of Bombay. 

**Preamble.**—Whereas  it  is  expedient  to  consolidate  and  amend  the  law  relating  to  the  District  and 
other subordinate Civil Courts in the Presidency of Bombay; It is hereby enacted as follows:—  

###PART I.—Preliminary. 

1. **Short title. Extent of Act.**—This Act may be called “The Bombay Civil Courts’ Act, 1869,” and 
extends  only  to  the  territories  (other  than  Sind)  under  the  Government  of  the  Governor  of  Bombay  in 
Council in which the Code of Civil Procedure is now in force. But the Governor of  Bombay in Council 
may, by notification in the Government Gazette, extend this Act to any other of the territories under such 
Government in which the said Code is not in force, or to Sind. 

2. *[Repeal  of  enactments].—Rep.  by  the  Obsolete  enactments  Act,  1870  (14  of  1870),  s.  1  and 
Schedule, Part II* (w.e.f. 5-4-1870). 

###PART II.—Districts and Sadr Stations. 

3. **Alteration and creation of Districts.**—The  Governor  of  Bombay  in  Council  may  from  time  to 
time, by notification in the Government Gazette, alter the limits of existing Zilas (which. shall hereafter 
be called Districts) and create new Districts for the purposes of this Act.

4. **Position of Sadr station.**—The Governor of Bombay in Council may also from time to time, by 
notification in the Government Gazette, alter the position of the Sadr station in any District, and fix the 
position of the Sadr station in any new District. 

###PART III.—District Courts. 

5. **District Judges.**—There shall be in each District a District Court presided over by a Judge to be 
called  the  District  Judge.  He  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Bombay  in  Council  by  whose 
authority only he shall be liable to be suspended or removed from his appointment.

6. **Situation of District Court.**—The  District  Judge  shall  ordinarily  hold  the  District  Court  at  the 
Sadr  station  in  his  District,  but  may,  with  the  previous  sanction  of  the  High  Court,  hold  it  elsewhere 
within the District.

7. **Original jurisdiction of District Judge.**—The  District  Court  shall  be  the  principal  Court  of 
original civil jurisdiction in the District, within the meaning of the Code of Civil Procedure. 

8. **His appellate jurisdiction.**—Except as provided in sections sixteen, seventeen and twenty-six, the 
District Court shall be the Court of Appeal from all decrees and orders passed by the Subordinate Courts 
from which an appeal lies under any law for the time being in force. 

9. **Control and inspection of Courts.**—The  District  Judge  shall  have  general  control  over  all  the 
Civil Courts and their establishments within the District, and it shall be his duty to inspect, or to cause one 
of  his  Assistants  to  inspect,  the  proceedings  of  all  the  Courts  subordinate  to  him,  and  to  give  such 
directions with respect to matters not provided for by law as he may think necessary. The  District Judge 
shall  also refer to the  High  Court all  such  matters  as  appear to  him  to  require that  a  rule of that  Court 
should be made thereon.

10. **Writs and orders. Reports and returns.**—The  District  Judge  shall  obey  all  writs,  orders,  or 
processes  issued  to  him  by  the  High  Court,  and  shall  make  such  returns  or  reports  thereto  under  his 
signature  and  the  seal  of  the  Court  as  the  exigencies  of  the  case  require.  He  shall  further  furnish  such 
reports and returns and copies of proceedings as may be called for by the High Court or the Governor of 
Bombay in Council.

11. **Seal of District Judge.**—The  District  Judge  shall  use  a  circular  seal  two  inches  in  diameter, 
which  shall  bear  thereon  the.  Royal  Arms  with  the  following  inscription  in  English  and  the  principal 
language of the District—“District Court of                     .” 

###PART IV.—Joint Judges. 

12. **Power to appoint Joint Judges.**—The Governor of Bombay in Council may, with the previous 
sanction of the Governor General of India in Council, appoint in any District a Joint Judge who shall be 
invested  with  co-extensive  powers  and  a  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  District  Judge,  except  that  he 
shall not keep a file of civil suits and shall transact such civil business only as he may receive from the 
District Judge, or as may have been referred to the Joint Judge by order of the High Court.

When the appointment of a Joint Judge shall have been sanctioned by the Governor General of India 
in Council, the Governor of Bombay in Council may, so long as such sanction continues in force, appoint 
a successor to such Joint Judge in case his office becomes vacant, or transfer such Joint Judge from one 
District to another; and in such other District the Joint Judge so transferred shall have the same powers as 
he had in the former District. 

13. **Enactments applying to District Judge to apply to Joint Judge. Joint Judge’s seal.**—All 
Regulations and Acts now or hereafter in force and applying to a District Judge shall be deemed to apply 
also to the Joint Judge; and the seal of the Joint Judge shall be the same as is used by the District Judge.

###PART V.—Assistant Judges. 

14. **Power  to  appoint  Assistant  Judges.**—The Governor of Bombay in Council, under the general 
control of the Governor General of India in Council, may appoint one or more Assistants to the District 
Judge, and may suspend or remove from his appointment any Assistant so appointed.

15. **Situation of Assistant Judge’s Court.**—An Assistant Judge shall ordinarily hold his Court at the 
same place as the District Judge, but he may hold his Court elsewhere within the District, whenever the 
District Judge shall, with the previous sanction of the High Court, direct him so to do. 

16. **Original jurisdiction of Assistant Judge.**—The District Judge may refer to any Assistant Judge 
subordinate to him original suits of which the subject-matter does not amount to ten thousand rupees in 
amount or value, and miscellaneous applications not being of the nature of appeals. The Assistant Judge 
shall have jurisdiction to try such suits and to dispose of such applications. Where the Assistant Judge’s 
decrees and orders in such cases are appealable, the appeal shall lie to the District Judge or to the High 
Court according as the amount or value of the subject-matter does not exceed or exceeds five thousand 
rupees.

The Assistant Judge shall, when directed  by  the  District  Judge  so  to  do,  also  take  evidence  on 
applications for certificates under Act No. 20 of 1864 (for making better provision for the care of the 
persons  and  property  of minors  in  the  Presidency  of  Bombay),  and  shall  forward  it  with  his  opinion 
thereon for the final orders of the District Judge. 

17. **Appellate  jurisdiction  of  Assistant  Judge.**—The  Governor  of  Bombay  in  Council  may,  by 
notification  in  the  Government  Gazette,  empower  any  Assistant  Judge  to  try  such  appeals  from  the 
decrees and orders of the subordinate Courts as would lie to the District Judge and as may be referred by 
him to the Assistant Judge.
                                                      
Decrees  and  orders  passed  under  this  section  by  an  Assistant  Judge  shall  have  the  same  force  and 
shall be subject to the same rules as regards procedure and appeals as decrees and orders passed by the 
District Judge.

18. **Continuance  of  Assistant  Judge’s  appellate  jurisdiction.**—A  person  filling  the  office  of 
Assistant Judge, on whom the power of hearing appeals has once been conferred under section seventeen, 
shall continue to have this power so long and so often as he may fill the office of Assistant Judge, without 
reference to the District in which he may be employed; provided that the Governor of Bombay in Council 
may, by notification in the Government Gazette, at any time withdraw such power. 

19. **Power to invest Assistant Judge with powers of District Judge.**—The Governor of Bombay in 
Council may, by notification in the Government Gazette, invest an Assistant Judge with all or any of the 
powers of a District Judge within a particular part of a District, and may, by like notification, from time to 
time determine and alter the limits of such Part.

The  jurisdiction  of  an  Assistant  Judge  so  invested  shall  pro  tanto  exclude  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
District Judge from within the said limits. 

Every Assistant Judge so invested shall ordinarily hold his Court at such place within the local limits 
of  his  jurisdiction  as  may  be  determined  by  the  Governor  of  Bombay  in  Council,  and  may,  with  the 
previous sanction of the High Court, hold it at any other place within such limits.

20. **Assistant Judge to use seal of District Judge.**—Every Assistant Judge shall use the seal of the 
District Judge to whom he is Assistant. 

###PART VI.—Subordinate Judges. 

21. **Number of Subordinate Civil Courts.**—There shall  be in  each  District  so  many  Civil  Courts 
subordinate to the District Court as the Governor of Bombay in Council, acting under the general control 
of the Governor General of India in Council, shall from time to time direct.

22. **Appointment of Subordinate Judges.**—The Judges of such subordinate Courts shall be 
appointed by the Governor of Bombay in Council, and shall be called Subordinate Judges. 

No  person  shall  be  appointed  a  Subordinate  Judge  unless  he  be  a  subject  of  the  Queen  who  has 
practised five years as an Advocate of a High Court in India or as a Vakil in the High Court of Judicature 
in Bombay, or who has qualified for the duties of a Subordinate Judge according to such tests as may for 
the time being be prescribed by such High Court, or who has taken the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the 
University of Bombay. 

The tests so prescribed by the High Court shall be notified in the Government Gazette. 

22A. **Power to fix local limits of jurisdiction of Subordinate Judges.**—The Governor of Bombay 
in Council may, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix, and, by a like notification, from time to time 
alter, the local limits of the ordinary jurisdiction of the Subordinate Judges.

23. **Situation of Subordinate Courts.**—The Subordinate Judges shall hold their Courts at such place 
or places as  the Governor of Bombay in Council may from time to time appoint, within the local limits of 
their respective jurisdictions. Wherever more than one such place is appointed, the District Judge shall, 
subject to the control of the High Court, fix the days on which the Subordinate Judge shall hold his Court 
at each of such places, and the Subordinate Judge shall cause such days to be duly notified throughout the 
local limits of his jurisdiction. 

The same person may be the Judge of more than one Subordinate Court; and in such cases the District 
judge shall, subject to the control of the High Court, prescribe rules for regulating the time during which 
the Subordinate Judge shall sit in each Court. 

The Judge of any Subordinate Court may, with the previous sanction of the High Court, be deputed 
by the District Judge to the Court of another Subordinate Judge  for the purpose of assisting him in the 
disposal of the suits on his file. 

24. **Classes of Subordinate Judges.**—The Subordinate Judges shall be of two classes.

**Jurisdiction  of  Subordinate  Judge  of  first  class.**—The jurisdiction of a Subordinate Judge of the 
first class extends to all original suits and proceedings of a civil nature. 

**Jurisdiction  of  Subordinate  Judges  of  second  class.**—The jurisdiction of a Subordinate Judge of 
the second class extends to all original suits and proceedings of a civil nature wherein the subject-matter 
does not exceed in amount or value five thousand rupees.

25. **Special jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of first class.**—A  Subordinate  Judge  of  the  first 
class, in addition to his ordinary jurisdiction, shall exercise a special jurisdiction in respect of such suits 
and proceedings of a civil nature wherein the subject-matter exceeds five thousand rupees in amount or 
value as may arise within the local jurisdictions of the Courts in the District presided over by Subordinate 
Judges of the second class.

In  Districts  to  which  more  than  one  Subordinate  Judge  of  the  first  class  have  been  appointed,  the 
District Judge, subject to the orders of the High Court, shall assign to each the local limits within which 
his said special jurisdiction is to be exercised. 

26. **Appeals  from  his  decision.**—In  all  suits  decided  by  a  Subordinate  Judge of  which  the 
amount or value of the subject-matter exceeds five thousand rupees, the appeal from his decision shall be 
direct to the High Court.

27. **Appellate  jurisdiction  of  Subordinate  Judge  of  first  class.**—The  Governor  of  Bombay  in 
Council may invest any Subordinate Judge of the first class with power to hear appeals from such decrees 
and orders of Subordinate Courts as may be referred to him by the Judge of the District. 

Decrees and orders so passed in appeal by a Subordinate Judge of the first class shall have the same 
force as if passed by a District Judge. 

The Governor of Bombay  in Council may, whenever he thinks fit, withdraw such jurisdiction from 
any Subordinate Judge so invested. 

28. **Power to invest Subordinate Judges with small cause powers.**—The Governor of Bombay in 
Council may invest, within such local limits as he shall from time to time appoint, any Subordinate Judge 
of  the  first  class  with  the  jurisdiction  of  a  Judge  of  a  Court  of  Small  Causes,  for  the  trial  of  suits 
cognizable  by  such  Courts  up  to  the  amount  of five hundred  rupees,  and  any  Subordinate Judge  of the 
second class with the same jurisdiction up to the amount of fifty rupees.

The Governor of Bombay  in Council may, whenever he thinks fit, withdraw such jurisdiction from 
any Subordinate Judge so invested. 

29. **Seal of Subordinate Judge.**—Each  Subordinate  Judge  shall  use  a  seal  one  inch  and  a  half  in 
diameter, bearing the Royal Crown with the following inscription in English and the principal language of 
the District—“Subordinate Judge of     .”

30. *[First  Subordinate  Judges  of  first  class].—Rep.  by  the  Obsolete  Enactments  Act,  1876  (12  of 
1876), s. 1 and Schedule, Part I* (w.e.f. 11-4-1876).  

31. *[Pending proceedings].—Rep. by s. 1 and Schedule, Part I, ibid. (w.e.f.* 11-4-1876). 

32. **Reference  of  Government  suits.**— No  Subordinate  Judge  or  Court  of  Small  Causes  shall 
receive or register a suit in which the Government or any officer of Government in his official capacity is 
a party, but in every such case such Judge or Court shall refer the plaintiff to the District Judge, in whose 
Court alone (subject to the provisions of section nineteen) such suit shall be instituted.
                                                      
Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to apply to any suit merely because—

(a) a municipal corporation constituted under Bombay Act No. 6 of 1873, or any other enactment 
for  the  time  being  in  force,  is  a  party  to  such  suit  and  an  officer  of  Government  is  in  his  official 
capacity a member of such corporation, or  

(b) an officer of a Court appointed under the Code of Civil Procedure, section 456, last paragraph, 
a party to such suit.

*Removal or suspension.*

33. **Commission of enquiry into alleged misconduct.**—Whenever the High Court is of opinion that 
there  are  good  grounds  for  making  a  formal  and  public  enquiry  into  the  truth  of  any  imputation  of 
misconduct by any Subordinate Judge, the High Court may appoint a Commissioner or Commissioners 
for the purpose of holding such an enquiry, and on the receipt of his or their report may order that the 
Subordinate Judge be removed or suspended from office, or reduced to a lower class.

The provisions of Act No. 37 of 1850 (for regulating enquiries into the behaviour of public servants) 
shall  apply  to  enquiries  under  this  section,  the  powers  conferred  by  that  Act  on  the  Government  being 
exercised by the High Court. 

34. **Suspension of Subordinate Judges by High  Court  or  District  Judge.**—The High Court may 
suspend any Subordinate Judge from office pending the result of an enquiry into his behaviour under this 
section.

Any  District  Judge  may,  whenever  he  sees  urgent  necessity  for  so  doing,  suspend  from  office  any 
Subordinate  Judge  under  his  control.  But  whenever  the  District  Judge  suspends  any  such  Subordinate 
Judge, he shall forthwith report the case for the orders of the High Court.

**Saving of power of Government to suspend or dismiss.**—Nothing  in  this  section  or  in  section 
thirty-three shall be held to interfere with the right of Government to suspend, or remove from office, any 
Subordinate Judge at their discretion.

###PART VII.—Temporary vacancies. 

35. **Temporary vacancy of office of District Judge.**—In the event of the death of the District Judge 
or of his being prevented from performing his duties by illness or other casualty, or of his absence from 
his District on leave, the first in rank  of the Assistant Judges in the District, or in the absence from the 
District  of  an  Assistant  Judge  the  first  in  rank  of  the  Subordinate  Judges,  shall  assume  charge  of  the 
District Court without interruption to his ordinary jurisdiction,. and while so in charge shall perform the 
duties of a District judge with respect to the filing of suits and appeals, receiving pleadings, execution of 
processes, return of writs and the like, and shall be designated Assistant Judge or Subordinate Judge, as 
the case  may be, in charge of the District, and shall continue in such charge until the office of District 
Judge may be resumed or assumed by an officer duly appointed thereto. 

36. **Delegation  of  powers  of  District  Judge.**—Any  District  Judge  leaving  the  Sadr  station  and 
proceeding on duty to any place within his District, may delegate to an Assistant Judge, or in the absence 
of  an  Assistant  Judge  to  a  Subordinate  Judge  at  the  Sadr  station,  the  power  of  performing  such  of  the 
duties  enumerated  in  section  thirty-five  as  may  be  emergent;  and  such  officer  shall  be  designated 
Assistant or Subordinate Judge, as the case may be, in charge of the Sadr station. 

37. **Temporary vacancy of office of Subordinate Judge.**—In the event of the death, suspension or 
temporary  absence  of  any  Subordinate  Judge,  the  District  Judge  may  empower  the  Judge  of  any 
Subordinate  Court  of  the  same  District  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  Judge  of  the  vacated  Subordinate 
Court,  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.

###PART VIII.—Ministerial Officers. 

38. **Appointment, etc., of ministerial officers.**—All ministerial officers of the Civil Courts in each 
District  shall  be  appointed,  and  may  be  fined,  suspended  or  dismissed  by  the  District  Judge,  subject to 
such rules as the High Court may from time to time prescribe:

Provided  that  the  Judge  of  every  Subordinate  Court  may,  subject  to  the  like  rules,  appoint  the 
ministerial officers of such Court, whose salaries do not exceed rupees ten per mensem, and may by order 
find, suspend or dismiss any ministerial officer of such Court who is guilty of any misconduct or neglect 
in the performance of the duties of his office. Every such order shall be subject to appeal to the District 
Judge; and the roles for the time being applicable to appeals to the Court of Session from orders of the 
Criminal Courts subordinate thereto, shall apply to all appeals under this section. 

Nothing in this section shall exempt the offender from any penal or other consequences to which he 
may be liable under any other law in force for the time being. 

39. **Duties of ministerial officers.**—The duties of the said ministerial officers shall be regulated by 
such rules as the High Court may from time to time prescribe. 

40. **Power to appoint Clerks of the Courts.**—The Governor of Bombay in Council may, under the 
general control of the Governor General of India in Council, appoint to any Civil Court under this Act a 
Clerk of the Court who, in addition to such duties as may from time to time be prescribed by the High 
Court, may receive and register plaints, and shall refer such as he may consider should be refused for the 
orders of the Judge of the Court, and may sign all processes, and authenticate copies of papers. 

###PART IX.—Miscellaneous. 

41. **Rules for keeping proceedings.**—The  proceedings  of  each  Civil  Court  shall  be  kept  and 
recorded according to such rules as the High Court may from time to time prescribe. The High Court shall 
also lay down rules under which copies of papers may be granted. 

42. **Fees for process.**—The High Court shall from time to time, with the sanction of the Governor of 
Bombay in Council, prescribe and regulate the fees to be taken for any process issued by any Court the 
constitution of which is declared by this Act, or by any officer of such Court. 

Tables of the fees so prescribed shall be published in the Government Gazette. 

43. **Sittings of Courts.**—The  District  and  Subordinate  Courts  shall  sit  from  day  to  day,  except  on 
Sundays,  New  Year's  Day,  Good  Friday,  Christmas Day,  and  Her  Majesty’s  Birth  Day,  and  such  other 
days as may be sanctioned for each or every District by the High Court. 

**Vacation.**—The High Court may also permit the Civil Courts under its control to adjourn for a period 
or periods not exceeding in the whole six weeks in each year. 

*[SCHEDULE].—Rep. by the Obsolete enactments Act, 1870 (14 of 1870), s. 1 and Schedule, Part II 
(w.e.f.* 5-4-1870).