Synopsis

The plaintiff filed a commercial suit for rendition of accounts and damages arising from an agreement for channel telecasting and distribution. The agreement contained clause 15 conferring exclusive jurisdiction to the courts at Hyderabad. The defendants filed an application under Order VII Rule 11 CPC, but during proceedings raised the objection of lack of territorial jurisdiction in Delhi. The plaintiff argued that the objection was belated as issues had been framed and evidence had commenced. The court held that an objection to territorial jurisdiction goes to the root of the matter and can be raised at any stage, as a decree passed without jurisdiction is a nullity. The plaint was returned under Order VII Rule 10 CPC to be instituted before the competent court in Hyderabad.

Court: High Court of Delhi

Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Subramonium Prasad

Date of Judgment: 23rd April 2026

Citation: 2026:DHC:3511 (I.A. 26323/2025 in CS(COMM) 1/2022)

Core Law: Civil Procedure Code, 1908 – Territorial jurisdiction (Order VII Rule 10 & Rule 11); Contract Act – Exclusive jurisdiction clauses

1.  Heading of the judgment

High court of delhi

I.a. no.26323 of 2025 in cs(comm) no.1 of 2022

India ahead news pvt ltd represented by mr. arvind singh commercial head (plaintiff) vs. Deon networks pvt ltd & anr. (defendants)

Coram: hon'ble mr. justice subramonium prasad

Date of judgment: 23rd april, 2026

2. Legal framework

Major laws and provisions involved:

• Code of civil procedure, 1908 – order vii rule 10 (return of plaint) and order vii rule 11 (rejection of plaint)

• Code of civil procedure, 1908 – section 20 (territorial jurisdiction)

• Indian contract act, 1872 – section 28 (agreements in restraint of legal proceedings) – exception for exclusive jurisdiction clauses

Subject matter of the judgment:

Whether an objection to territorial jurisdiction based on an exclusive jurisdiction clause in a contract can be entertained at a belated stage (after issues framed and evidence commenced), and whether the court should dismiss the suit or return the plaint for presentation before the competent court.

Key legal principles applied:

• Exclusive jurisdiction clauses are valid: Where parties by agreement confer exclusive jurisdiction on a particular court (using words like "alone", "only", "exclusive", or by clear implication), all other courts are ousted. The maxim expressio unius est exclusio alterius applies.

• Decree without jurisdiction is a nu

... Upgrade to a Premium Plan to view the full judgment.