SMALL CAUSES COURT

BANDRA
11 RIYA GUPTA 16 VANSH JAIN
12 SHREYA GUPTA 17 MAYANK JAIN
13 SIDDHARTH GURLE 18 PALAK JHURANI
14 SANYA JAGIASIBAVA 19 NIKHAR JIWTANI
15 TANISH JAIN 20 JAYANTH KANKARIA
 INDEX

SR.NO PARTICULARS
1 INTRODUCTION
2 JURISDICTION
3 INFRASTRUCTURE
4 PROCEDURE
5 POWERS
6 3​RD​ FLOOR
7 4​TH​ FLOOR
8 5​TH​ FLOOR
9 6​TH​ FLOOR
10 7​TH​ FLOOR
11 8​TH​ FLOOR
12 VIEWS
13 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
The Small Causes Court is responsible for
adjudicating matters related to civil cases. The
court is responsible for cases relating to tax,
property disputes and other such cases. Court
of Small Causes, Mumbai has been
established under the provisions of the
Presidency Small Causes Courts Act, 1882.
The procedure of this Court is governed by
the provisions of the Presidency Small Causes
Courts Act, 1882, Civil Manual, 1986 and the
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, as it is
applicable to this Court by the rules framed
by the Hon'ble High Court under the said Act.
The main headquarters of The Small Causes
Court is in Mumbai at Dhobitalao. The Small
Causes Court at Bandra is a branch of the
Mumbai’s Small Causes Court. This branch has
divided Mumbai in 2 respective areas.
JURISDICTION
Head Office of this Court is situated in Old and
New Annex Building, at Dhobi Talao,
Lokmanya Tilak Marg, Mumbai – 400 002. The
Territorial Jurisdiction of Head Office is from
Colaba to Mulund on Central Suburban
Railway Side and upto Mankhurd on Harbour
Railway Side and upto Mahim on Western
Suburban Railway Side. There are 31 Court
Halls, which includes 5 Appellate Benches, 26
Trial Courts including 1 Registrar's Court.
Appellate Bench, Court Room No.2 is a Special
Court for Matters of Bonafide Requirements.
Court Room Nos. 10 and 16 are designated as
“Special Courts” for Matters of Bonafide
Requirement. Court Room Nos. 11 and 12 are
special Courts for fixation of Standard Rent
and these Courts are designated as “Standard
Rent Court”. Court Room No. 18 and 30 are
Special Courts for matter filed under the
provisions of Bombay Municipal Corporation
Act, 1888 and the said Courts are designated
as “B.M.C. Courts”. Court Room Nos. 19 and
23 are designated as “Special Court” for
matter filed U/s.41 of P.S.C.C., Act, where
there is no protection under the Rent Acts i.e.
T.E. & T.E.R. Suits. Court Room No. 21 is
designated as Special Court for trying Money
Suits i.e. Summary Suit and Regular Suit etc.
Court Room No. 24 is designated as “B.P.T.
Court” for matter filed by or against the
Bombay Port Trust. At present, Appellate
Bench, Court Room No.5 and Trial Courts i.e.
Court Room Nos. 24 and 25 are presently
vacant.

The Branch office of this Court is situated in

Bhaskar Building, Anant Kanekar Marg,
Bandra (East), Mumbai-400051. In the
Bhaskar Building, 3rd floor to 8th floor are in
use occupation and possession of this Court.
The said Branch has been started functioning
with effect from 6th August, 1990. The
Territorial Jurisdiction of Bandra Branch is
from Mahim to Dashisar on the Western
Suburban Railway Side. There are 11 Courts at
Bandra, out of which 2 Appellate Benches and
remaining 9 Trial Courts including 1
Registrar's Court. Court Room No. 32 is
designated as “Special Court” for trying
matters filed under Bonafide Requirement
under the provisions of the Rent Act and T.E.
& T.E. & R Suits under the provisions of
Section 41 of the Presidency Small Causes
Court Act, 1882.

INFRASTRUCTURE
This Court is near the Bandra[EAST] Station.
However this brings flexibility for the people
for using any transportation services to reach
there. Also the court is at walking distance
through the Bandra station. There are 8 floors
in the building where 1​st​ and 2​nd​ floor are for
Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
● 3​rd​ floor – It consist of Cash department,
Execution department, Correspondence
department, Establishment department,
Copying department, Registrar chamber,
Inspection department, Appraiser
department, Asst. registrar chamber.
● 4​th​ floor – It consist of Canteen, Advocate
library, Xerox Operator, Advocate clerk
room
● 5​th​ floor- Court room no. 40 , Service
room, Mediation centre, Process
Department, Telephone operator, Court
room No. 58.
● 6​th​ floor- Court room No. 34, Court room
No. 36, Court room No. 38, Record
Department.
● 7​th​ floor- Court room No. 33, Court room
No. 35, Court room No. 37, Judge’s
chamber, Stationary room, Dead stock
room.
● 8​th​ floor-Court room No. 31, Court room
No. 32, Court room No. 39, Registrar’s
Court , Judge’s library, Bailiff department.

PROCEDURE
The procedure for the Court of Small causes
are as follows:
1. Name of the Court, Nature of Complaint,
Names and Address of parties to be suit has
to be clearly mentioned.
2. Plaint should also contain the facts
constituting the cause of action and when it
arose, the facts showing that the court has
jurisdiction, the relief which the plaintiff (the
person making the complaint) claims, a
statement of value of the subject matter of
the suit in order to ascertain jurisdiction and
court fees.
3. A person/ party filing a case may also
represent their own case personally in any
court. However, due to lack of knowledge of
Law and Technical Procedures, Lawyers are
engaged to report the interest of parties.
4. “​Vakalatnama​” is a document, by which
the party filing the case authorizes the
Advocate to represent on their behalf.
Vakalatnama is affixed on the last page of
plaint/suit and is kept along with court
records.

On issuance of notice to the opposite party,

the plaintiff is required to do the following:
• File requisite amount of procedure-fee in
the court.
• File 2 copies of plaint for each defendant in
the court, i.e. if there are 3 defendants, 6
copies has to be filed.
• Of, the 2 copies for each defendant, one
shall be sent by Register/post/courier, and
one by Ordinary post.
• Such filing should be done within ​7 days​,
from date of order/notice.
• When the notice has been issued to the
defendant, he is required to appear on the
date mentioned in the notice. Before such
date, the defendant is required to file his
“written statement”. The time period of 30
days, for filing a Written Statement, can be
extended to 90 days after seeking permission
of the court​.

POWERS
Powers exercised by the Judges of the Small
Causes Court at Mumbai : The Judges are
empowered to hear and disposes off the
money suits, wherein, the claims does not
exceed Rs. 10,000 subject to exception laid
down under Section 19 of the Presidency
Small Causes Courts Act, 1882. The said
Pecuniary Jurisdiction of Rs. 10,000/- has
been enhanced to Rs. 25,000/- by the
Government of Maharashtra, vide
Maharashtra Act. No. XV of 1987. However,
the said Act of enhancement of Pecuniary
Jurisdiction of Bombay City Civil Court and
Court of Small Causes, Bombay has not been
implemented till today. They are also
empowered to hear and dispose of suits
under Section 41 of the said Act. As per the
provision of Section 38 of the Presidency
Small Causes Court Act, 1882, the Full Court
Applications are heard by a Bench consisting
of two Judges of this Court. The Bench
consisting of two Judges also hears SSS42 of
the Presidency Small Causes Courts, Act,
1882.

RD​
3​ FLOOR
➢ COPYING DEPARTMENT
It has total strength of 12 people. Head
superintendent is MR. S.S. JAGTAP. Head
Superintendent changes every 1 year. This
department mainly deals with Issuance of
Certified Copy of Orders, Judgements and
Documents filed at the senior courts. It comes
under section 1b, A to K, Maharashtra Rent
Control act. Declaratory suits, section 7 (15)
of Maharashtra.
➢ CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT
Head superintendent of this department is
SUSHMA SHIRKAR. This department mainly
deals with supply of stationary, disposal of
matter, renovation of building work, monthly
statement by the matter, dispatch letters to
various offices. It also records the leaves of
the judges. It receives Correspondence from
outside and to Register them and dispatch
them to various departments.
Eg; A Suit filed in the court, party doesn't
accept the appeal/ decision of the court, After
that they can appeal to the correspondence
dept. to appeal in the higher court.
➢ EXECUTION DEPARTMENT
It deals with verification of all writs of
executions such as warrant of possession,
warrant of Attachment, Prohibitory Order
etc. issued by this Court. It maintains
necessary register as per the 'Civil Manual'
and make necessary entries of all the
processes allotted to the Bailiff. All the work
related to the process of this Court as well as
the processes received from other Courts
such as Summons, Notice, Attachment
Warrant, Prohibitory Order, Withdrawal
Order etc. are assigned to the Bailiff of this
Court, as per the area allotted to them.
It checks all the stamps affixed to all the
processes issued by this Court.
 ➢ CASH DEPARTMENT
The head of this department is Shri.
V.N.Thakur and Smt. S.A.Malik. This
department consist of ledgers and clerks.
There are in total 9 clerks and 17 officers.
Here there is payment to the court given by
the plaintiff and the defendant. Also this
court gets cash and cheques from other
department and places. At the end, this
amount is taken too, the police room where it
is kept for general resources of the court.

​4​ FLOOR
th​

➢ CLERK ROOM
This room on the fourth floor is meant for the
court clerks.
The basic job description of clerks is
● To do clerical duties in court of law
● Prepare docket of cases to be called
(A docket is simply a record of the
proceedings of a court case. Dockets vary
widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in type
of information recorded.)
● Secure information for the judges
● Contact witnesses, attorney, and litigants
to obtain information for the courts.

➢ LIBRARY
● There is a library available on the fourth
floor for the advocates.
● There are a lot of cabins available in the
advocate library.
● The cabins are assigned to lawyers who
had their cases assigned in the court
rooms.
● It has a lot books for the lawyers to refer.

➢ CANTEEN
● The canteen is quite large for 60 people to
sit there and have refreshments and
meals.
● It serves both; vegetarian and
non-vegetarian food for the people to
choose from.
● It has a few benches strictly reserved for
the advocates
● The clients can have chat with their
respective lawyers in canteen apart from
the bar room.
● We found the canteen average in terms of
sanity and the food they served + the
service they provided us with

➢ BAR ROOM
This room situated on the 4th floor
is one of the most important rooms
in the court.
● This room is meant for the advocates to
relax ,chill meet their clients and do many
other things.
 ● The room had 288 lockers in which the
lawyers keep their personal items ,files
etc.
● The room had two big tables and two
small tables with a table specifically
meant for the ladies.
● The room was not air conditioned.
● We had a talk with one the advocates
there named RL Dubey
● Briefing us about what the BAR council is
he told us that:
1:BAR association is the group of lawyers.
2:Regular elections are held for selection
of the president , secretary and treasurer
They in turn select 4-5 members for effective
working of the system. The current president
of BAR council is Subhash Gatke.
3:after the selection of people for the above
mentioned posts they coordinate to manage .
4: their general meeting is held twice in a year
for maintenance of the BAR room and
authority.
5: the benefits of BAR council are as follows:
(A) helps the members to bargain regarding
the labour laws.
(B) helps in representation of each and every
group

th​
​ 5​ Floor
➢ Process Department
In charge of the department – Wankhade Sir
The basic functioning of this department
deals with filing the cases and making
appeals.
Advocates with their clients make their
appeals regarding the proceeding in
process department.
The other work consists of sending the court’s
paper for service.
The information regarding pending cases,
number of cases filed was kept
confidential.
There were 10 people working in the
department and 15-16 seats were still
vacant.
➢ Court room No. 40
Cases heard in this court room are mainly
regarding the civil and property disputes.
50 cases are heard every day and the
proceedings are carried accordingly.

Judge Name –

➢ Telephone Operator
The main duties of the telephone operator
are:
1. To make Xerox and send Xerox copy to
concern Judges and Officers.
2. To send Xerox and original copy of paid
bill to Contingency Clerk for further
process.
3. To maintain register up to date.
4. To attend the complaint received from
the Chief Judge, Addl. Chief Judge and
officers and make compliance of the
same.
5. To attend work any other work as and
when assigned by the office.

➢ MEDIATION CENTRE
Mediation Courts are taken place at 6​th​ floor
of Small Causes Court. The ways in which
Mediation courts help are as follows:
● Mediation is an effective way of resolving
dispute through independent third party
i.e. Mediator/Judge Mediator.
● Mediator helps both sides to arrive to an
amicable settlement.
● Mediator avoids taking side, making
judgements and giving guidance.
● Mediator simply responsible for effective
communication and building consensuses
between the parties.
● Focus is to reach commence settlement
agreeable to both parties.
● Flexible process for settling disputes.
● Role of Mediator is to help parties to
reach in solution to their disputes.
● It takes place only if both parties
volunteers.
● It is a complete confidential process.
● It results in Psychologically and
substantively more satisfied results than
litigation.
● Narrows the issues in disputes by
identifying areas of agreement and
disagreement.
● Helps to save time, money and energy as
disputes can be resolved at any time by
mediation before or during trial, or appeal
prior to judgement.
● Eases tension and restores peace of mind.
● Reduces hostility between parties and
offers an opportunity to restore and
preserve business and personal
relationship.
● Mediation is less expensive than litigation,
if other mediator appointed. No cost is
involved, if judge mediator appointed.
● Mediation is fair and natural. Parties
decide settlement terms. No
determination of guilt or innocence.
● Mediation saves time as legal or other
representation is optional. It may
complete in one meeting.
● Mediation is confidential as information is
not disclosed to anyone.
● It improves communication as parties
openly discuss about underlying disputes.
Parties share information leading to
better understanding of issues.
● Mediation is a win-win situation in
contract to judicial decision.
● Mediation is voluntary. Any party may
withdraw at any time.
● Arranged at a convenience of parties. It
may be held at any place at any time. Not
limited to ordinary working days or hours.
 th​
6​ FLOOR
This floor consists of courtroom no.34,36 and
38 , record department
➢ Record Department
This room on the sixth floor is where all the
disposed matter after 3 months are kept.
The documents remain in court for 3 months
After 3 months of disposal of case , the
papers and the notes and resources are sent
to the record department and are disposed
on 25th of every month.
This department has 6 staff members and 2
peons.
The in charge of this department is Ms.
Shalaka uday Marathe.
The superintendent department is vacant as
of now.
 ➢ COURT ROOM 34
The judge for this court room is Smt.Y.k More.
The most important case to be held here was
the “1977 High court time bomb case”
The above mentioned case was first being
dealt at Small Causes Court, Dhobitalao from
where it got shifted to Small Causes Court
,Bandra.
This court room deals with property cases.
Everyday 30-40 cases regarding property are
filed here. An Average of 5-6 cases is dealt
here in one single day.
Deepak C. is the court assistant for more than
30 years now.

➢ COURT ROOM 36
The current judge for this court room is
Smt.V.N Thakur.

➢ COURT ROOM 38
439 exhibit 25
Pather and sons:(15th july,2004):
1. The decree is not challenged by the
defendant.
2. Cannot challenge regarding property.
The right to put an advertisement in the
newspaper is taken.
 th​
7​ floor
➢ JUDGES CHAMBER
It is the office of a judge, where certain
types of matters can be heard "in
chambers", also known as in camera,
rather than in open court. Generally,
cases heard in chambers are cases, or
parts of cases, in which the public and
press are not allowed to observe the
procedure. Judge's chambers are often
located on upper floors of the court
house, away from the courtrooms,
sometimes in groupings of judge's
chambers.
 th​
8​ Floor
➢ COURT ROOM NO. 31
This court is an appeal court.
A joint bench of judges sits here.
Name of judges - Shri. Puroshottam. R.
Choudhary​ ​and Swarnita .B. Mahalle

➢ COURT ROOM NO. 32

Its common court and all types of cases are
heard here.
Judge name- Shri S G Borle Pawar

➢ COURT ROOM NO. 39

This court was not in working as there was
no judge to hear the cases.
Name of the last judge – Swarnita . B.
Mahalle.
 ➢ JUDGE LIBRARY
Only judges are allowed in this room.
There are many books available on law.
Judges refer the books if and when required.
No advocates are allowed in here.

➢ BAILIFF DEPARTMENT
The head of this department is B S
Sawant. In the absence of the head, S R
Rane works as an acting head of the
department. There are total 75 bailiffs in
Mumbai, 25 bailiffs in Bandra branch and
50 bailiffs in Dhobitalao.
It mainly includes filing suits in the court,
then judge orders summons. Bailiff
ensures delivery of possession of
summons. In addition, a bailiff , also
ensures service of bailable and
non-bailable warrants to the parties or
witnesses to appear in the court.