Delhi High Court Commercial Division: Business Suits Above Rs 2 Crore and IP Suits

What the Commercial Division actually is

Most High Courts in India only hear appeals and writs. Delhi's is different. It tries civil suits itself, on what lawyers call the "original side", and Section 5(2) of the Delhi High Court Act, 1966 gives it that jurisdiction for suits valued above Rs 2 crore. Section 4 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 then requires a High Court like this to set up a Commercial Division. Section 7 sends every commercial dispute of specified value filed on the original side to it.

On the ground, the Commercial Division is a group of single judge benches. Your suit is registered as CS (COMM), then a number and the year. Many of the same judges also sit in the Intellectual Property Division. Applications in your suit carry their own separate numbers, and you'll find them on the daily cause list under the judge's court number. Clients often miss this the first time.

The rule cuts both ways. If the dispute is commercial, Delhi courts have territorial jurisdiction and the value is above Rs 2 crore, you file here. You can't pick a district court to save court fee or time. And you can't bring a Rs 1.5 crore suit to the High Court just because you'd prefer it. That one belongs in the district commercial courts in Delhi, at Saket, Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka or Patiala House.

Which suits belong here, and which don't

It all turns on specified value under Section 12 of the Commercial Courts Act. For a money claim, that's the amount you claim plus interest up to the filing date. For property, it's the market value. For something intangible like a trademark, it's the value you put on the right, and it has to be reasonable. Interest catches people out. Rs 1.8 crore of principal with two years of interest at 18 percent will usually cross Rs 2 crore and land here.

IP suits take a little more thought. Section 134 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and Section 62 of the Copyright Act, 1957 say an infringement suit can't be filed in any court below a District Court. In Delhi, that means a District Judge (Commercial Court) up to Rs 2 crore and the High Court above it. Brand owners often value their suits above Rs 2 crore because they're also claiming damages and rendition of accounts. So the case comes up to the High Court. Patents are different. If the defendant counter-claims for revocation, Section 104 of the Patents Act, 1970 sends the suit and the counter-claim to the High Court. Designs go the same way under Section 22(4) of the Designs Act, 2000 once validity is challenged.

Don't treat the Rs 2 crore line as permanent. In July 2026 the Full Court of the Delhi High Court was reported to have recommended raising the district courts' limit to Rs 10 crore. District bar associations had wanted Rs 20 crore. The Delhi High Court Bar Association has opposed it. As of October 2026 we aren't aware of any change in force. Check the limit on the day you file, because suits already filed may be transferred if the law changes. Our page on which commercial court hears your case walks through the value and territory rules.

The Intellectual Property Division

The Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 abolished the Intellectual Property Appellate Board. The Delhi High Court responded by creating an Intellectual Property Division in 2021, and later framed the Delhi High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules, 2022. The Division hears IP suits on the original side. It also takes petitions to cancel or rectify registered marks, and appeals from orders of the Registrar of Trade Marks and the Controller of Patents.

For a brand owner, the practical gain is simple. Your infringement suit, your rectification petition against the copier's registration and the applications around them can all sit before one bench. Delhi is often a convenient place to sue as well. Under Section 134 of the Trade Marks Act and Section 62 of the Copyright Act, you can sue where you carry on business, and not just where the defendant is. Plaintiffs often plead online sales into Delhi to found jurisdiction. Fair enough. But the court wants real proof of sales to, or targeting of, Delhi buyers. A website that merely opens in Delhi won't do.

In many IP Division suits the plaintiff asks, on the very first date, for an ex parte ad interim injunction, a Local Commissioner to visit the defendant's godown and seize infringing stock, and orders against unknown sellers. These orders bite. In return the court expects you to tell it everything. Keep back an earlier dispute, the defendant's prior use or a refused trademark application, and you may see the injunction vacated with costs. There's more on our trademark infringement page.

The provisions you'll hear about

High Court Commercial Division or a district commercial court

How your suit moves through the High Court

This is the usual order. Every bench and roster has its own habits, so read it as a guide and not a rulebook.

1. Mediate first, or show real urgency

   If you don't need urgent relief, apply for Section 12A mediation and get the non-starter or failure report before you file. If you do need it, file an application saying why. Expect the judge to test that application against what your plaint actually says.

2. Put the filing set together

   It holds the plaint with its statement of truth, an affidavit of documents under Order XI, a list and copies of every document, the Section 12A report or the urgency application, court fee, a vakalatnama carrying the Delhi welfare stamp, and the board resolution or authority letter. Interim applications go in at the same time. Leave one piece out and the Registry will notice.

3. E-file and deal with the Registry

   Everything goes in on the Delhi High Court's e-filing portal. The Registry checks the papers and raises objections. Page numbering. A missing affidavit. Short court fee. You have to cure them within the time given, or the suit can be dismissed for non-removal of objections.

4. First date before the judge

   Fresh matters go to the roster bench. If the urgency is genuine, counsel can mention the matter for early listing. That first hearing decides whether summons issue, whether there's any interim order and whether a Local Commissioner is appointed.

5. Pleadings before the Joint Registrar

   Next the suit usually moves to a Joint Registrar (Original Side), who oversees service, the written statement, the replication and admission and denial of documents. A Joint Registrar can't give a defendant time beyond 120 days for the written statement. Nobody can.

6. Issues and case management

   Back before the judge, issues are framed and there's a case management hearing under Order XVA. The court fixes dates for evidence and arguments. It may also send you to mediation at Samadhan.

7. Evidence before a Local Commissioner

   Evidence-in-chief is filed on affidavit. Cross-examination is often recorded by a court-appointed Local Commissioner, at times both sides agree, with the fee split as the court directs. It saves court time. It also costs you.

8. Arguments and judgment

   Written submissions come first, then oral arguments. Judgment is expected within 90 days of arguments closing, and the decree sets out the amount, the interest and the costs.

Urgent orders on the original side

The Commercial Division can grant temporary injunctions under Order XXXIX CPC, attach property before judgment under Order XXXVIII Rule 5 and appoint a receiver under Order XL. Where the facts justify it, it can also make a defendant file an affidavit of assets, or deposit or secure the disputed amount. What do urgent cases look like? A performance guarantee invoked when it shouldn't be. A brand being misused. Disputed goods about to be sold off. A defendant quietly shifting assets into group companies.

Once you get an ex parte injunction, Order XXXIX Rule 3 requires you to send the defendant the application, plaint and documents straight away and file an affidavit saying you did. People forget. They lose the order. If you're the one expecting to be sued, file a caveat under Section 148A CPC so you're heard before any ex parte order is made. A caveat in the High Court lasts 90 days.

Before Advocate B.K. Singh drafts an urgent injunction in a High Court commercial suit, he asks the client one awkward question: what will the other side say we hid? Every fact that hurts, whether it's an old settlement offer or months of delay before coming to court, goes into the plaint with an explanation. Commercial Division judges don't hesitate to discharge orders obtained on half a story. Our page on urgent injunctions goes further.

Before the Joint Registrar, and evidence before a Commissioner

After the first hearing, most clients expect to see the judge again. Instead the suit goes to a Joint Registrar. JRs handle the procedure: service, completing pleadings, admission and denial of documents, marking exhibits. The dates can feel routine. They aren't. This is where the 120-day limit bites, where documents get admitted or denied on affidavit, and where a party sitting on an undisclosed document gets found out.

Admission and denial under Order XI isn't a form you fill in without thinking. You have to admit or deny each of the other side's documents and give reasons. Deny an invoice that's sitting in your own ledger, and the court may treat it as admitted and put costs on you. We spend real time here. Admitted documents don't need proving, so the trial gets shorter.

The Local Commissioner is usually a retired judicial officer or a senior member of the Bar. Sittings happen in a room in the court complex or over video, on dates fixed by consent, and that's often quicker than waiting on a crowded court board. The Commissioner records the evidence and the objections and sends the record back. The judge rules on objections later, at final hearing.

Summary judgment, and summary suits

Order XIIIA CPC lets the court decide a claim, or part of one, without a trial. Two conditions. The defendant must have no real prospect of defending it, and there must be no other compelling reason for a trial. The Delhi High Court has used this power in suits on admitted invoices and acknowledgments, and in IP suits against obvious counterfeiters. You can apply once summons are served and before issues are framed.

A summary suit under Order XXXVII CPC is a separate route. It's for claims on written contracts, bills of exchange, cheques and promissory notes. The defendant has to ask for leave to defend, and the Supreme Court's tests in IDBI Trusteeship v. Hubtown (2016) decide whether it gets it. Big creditors holding signed loan or supply agreements often take this route in the High Court. We'd look at both before filing. See our pages on summary judgment and the summary suit.

Time and money in a Delhi High Court commercial suit

Before you file in the Commercial Division

• The value worked out as on the filing date, interest included, and it clearly crosses Rs 2 crore
• Papers showing the Delhi connection: where the contract was made, delivery, payment, the defendant's office, or in an IP suit, where you carry on business
• The Section 12A non-starter or failure report, or an urgency application you can honestly stand behind
• The contract, purchase orders, work orders and every amendment
• Invoices, ledgers, GST returns, e-way bills, bank statements
• Emails and WhatsApp messages exported in a form the court can use, with a Section 63 BSA certificate
• A board resolution or power of attorney for whoever signs
• Someone who actually knows the facts to sign the statement of truth
• Your affidavit of documents under Order XI, covering everything in your power and possession, the bad documents too
• In brand cases: registration certificates, proof of use, sales figures, ad spend and a sample of the copy product

What this court looks like for different businesses

• Large suppliers and manufacturers. Above Rs 2 crore, you're usually dealing with an account that has run for years. Reconcile your ledger before filing. The defendant's first move will be to dispute the account and demand a reconciliation.
• Service and IT companies. The fight is nearly always about milestone acceptance, change requests and delay. Keep project records, sign-offs and email approvals in one place so your disclosure is complete from day one.
• Lenders and investors. You can sue on inter-corporate loans and investment agreements here, often as a summary suit. If the borrower is a company with a large default, insolvency may also be open (see ncltlawyers.in). But that's a collective process. It isn't a recovery suit.
• Startups and brand owners. Young brands come to the IP Division to stop copycats. The registration certificate on its own won't carry you. Evidence of actual use and goodwill counts for more, especially when the defendant says it used the mark first.
• MSMEs. If you're a registered micro or small supplier with a Udyam certificate, you can claim interest under Sections 15 to 17 of the MSMED Act, 2006 at three times the RBI bank rate, or go to the MSME Facilitation Council under Section 18. Pick one, and pick it on purpose.
• Large companies and groups. Disclosure across group companies, privilege over legal advice and getting witnesses to turn up all take planning. Withhold documents and the court can draw adverse inferences.

Where High Court commercial suits go wrong

• Registry objections left hanging. Suits get dismissed for non-removal of objections more often than you'd think. Keep the defects list on your desk and cure it in time.
• A late written statement. Some defendants assume the High Court will go easy. It won't go past 120 days, and after that the right to file is gone.
• Disclosure with gaps. Bring out an important document only at the evidence stage and the court may refuse to let you rely on it.
• Inflating the value to get into the High Court. Puffed-up damages meant to cross Rs 2 crore draw objections and higher court fee. The court can return the plaint.
• Forgetting about costs. Under the commercial costs regime, a weak claim or a weak defence gets expensive. Work out the downside before you file or contest.
• Sitting on an interim order. Serve and comply with an ex parte injunction promptly. Otherwise the defendant will ask for it to be vacated, and it'll have a point.

If you've been sued in the Delhi High Court

Write 120 days from the date of service of summons in your diary. Then aim to file well inside 30. Your written statement has to answer every allegation and every document, give your side of the facts and set out any counter-claim. It needs a statement of truth and your own affidavit of documents. Don't hold back anything you may want later. You probably won't be allowed to add it.

If there's an ex parte injunction against you, apply under Order XXXIX Rule 4 CPC to vacate or modify it. An appeal also lies to the Division Bench. Look hard at whether the plaintiff complied with Rule 3 and whether it disclosed everything relevant. And if the suit skipped mediation when the urgency wasn't real, raise that early. Our page on defending a commercial suit has more on how we approach a defence.

Appeals, execution and the Supreme Court

Appeals from a single judge of the Commercial Division go to the Commercial Appellate Division, a Division Bench of the same court, under Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act. You have 60 days. Only orders listed in Order XLIII CPC and final judgments can be appealed, and Section 8 bars revision petitions against interlocutory orders. After the Division Bench, what's left is a special leave petition to the Supreme Court under Article 136, ordinarily within 90 days. See our page on the Commercial Appellate Division.

You can execute a Commercial Division decree on the original side of the High Court. Or you can send it, under Section 39 CPC, to the court where the judgment debtor's assets are. The Supreme Court's directions in Rahul S. Shah v. Jinendra Kumar Gandhi (2021) apply here too, including the six-month target for deciding execution. More on executing a decree.

What else comes here, and whether you should be here at all

Under Section 10 of the Commercial Courts Act, the Commercial Division also hears court applications in arbitrations of specified value, such as Section 9 interim measures and Section 34 challenges. Those run on arbitration law, and we cover them on arbitrationlawyer.in. Oppression and mismanagement petitions don't come here. Nor does insolvency. Both go to the NCLT.

A High Court suit eats money and management time. In a big dispute, the court fee, the Local Commissioner's fee and the risk of paying actual costs add up fast. Sometimes a properly drafted notice and a structured mediation get you more, sooner. Advocate B.K. Singh will tell you plainly when that's the better course.

If you'd like your contract, accounts and correspondence looked at before you file or defend in the Delhi High Court, send them to Advocate B.K. Singh's team through the contact page.