The Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed in Parliament on Wednesday, seeking to raise the pecuniary jurisdiction of lower court judges for disposing of civil cases.
Law Minister Anisul Huq moved the Bill and it was passed by voice vote.
As per the Bill, the pecuniary jurisdiction of civil courts will be increased.
The higher threshold of the pecuniary jurisdiction has been increased to 15 lakh taka from the existing 2 lakh taka for an assistant judge, while 25 lakh taka in place of 4 lakh taka for a senior assistant judge in the case of trying civil suits, according to the Bill.
In the case of hearing the appeals of the civil suits, the financial jurisdiction was raised to 5 crore taka from the existing 5 lakh taka for a district judge.
With the passage of the Bill, an assistant judge can try civil cases having the asset value of maximum 15 lakh taka each, while a senior assistant judge can try a civil suit having the asset value of maximum 25 lakh taka.
Besides, a provision has been incorporated in the proposed law to transfer the appeals, which are pending with the High Court against the decree or orders made by joint district judges in the civil suits involving maximum 5 crore taka, to the district judge court.
