(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) "Commercial Appellate Courts" means the Commercial Appellate Courts designated under section 3A;
(aa) "Commercial Appellate Division" means the Commercial Appellate Division in a High Court constituted under sub-section (1) of section 5;
(b) "Commercial Court" means the Commercial Court constituted under sub-section (1) of section 3;
(c) "commercial dispute" means a dispute arising out of—
- (i) ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents, including export and import of merchandise or services;
- (ii) export or import of merchandise or services;
- (iii) issues relating to admiralty and maritime law;
- (iv) transactions relating to aircraft, aircraft engines, aircraft equipment and helicopters;
- (v) carriage of goods;
- (vi) construction and infrastructure contracts, including tenders;
- (vii) agreements relating to immovable property used exclusively in trade or commerce;
- (viii) franchising agreements;
- (ix) distribution and licensing agreements;
- (x) management and consultancy agreements;
- (xi) joint venture agreements;
- (xii) shareholders agreements;
- (xiii) subscription and investment agreements pertaining to the services industry;
- (xiv) mercantile agency and mercantile usage;
- (xv) partnership agreements;
- (xvi) technology development agreements;
- (xvii) intellectual property rights relating to registered and unregistered trademarks, copyright, patent, design, domain names, geographical indications and semiconductor integrated circuits;
- (xviii) agreements for sale of goods or provision of services;
- (xix) exploitation of oil and gas reserves or other natural resources;
- (xx) insurance and re-insurance;
- (xxi) contracts of agency relating to any of the above; and
- (xxii) such other commercial disputes as may be notified by the Central Government.
Explanation.— A commercial dispute shall not cease to be a commercial dispute merely because— (a) it also involves action for recovery of immovable property or for realisation of monies out of immovable property; or (b) one of the contracting parties is the State or any of its agencies.
(d) "Commercial Division" means the Commercial Division in a High Court constituted under sub-section (1) of section 4;
(i) "Specified Value", in relation to a commercial dispute, means the value of the subject-matter in respect of a suit as determined in accordance with section 12 which shall not be less than three lakh rupees or such higher value as may be notified.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 2
Section 2 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 enacts the definitional foundation of the statute, defining 'Commercial Dispute' under clause (c) and 'Specified Value' under clause (i), which determine the jurisdictional competence of Commercial Courts.
Additionally, Section 2(1)(i) prescribes the 'Specified Value' threshold—originally set at one crore rupees and subsequently amended by the 2018 Amendment Act to not less than three lakh rupees. The intersection of a recognized commercial cause under clause (c) and the requisite pecuniary threshold under clause (i) constitutes the sine qua non for the institution and trial of a suit before a Commercial Court.
Litigants cannot artificially cloak an ordinary land or boundary dispute in commercial garb to jump the queue in civil courts. Pleading requirements demand affirmative statements explaining precisely how the dispute falls within one of the twenty-two sub-clauses of Section 2(1)(c), accompanied by a concrete computation of Specified Value under Section 12.