Question

Under the scheme of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, where proceedings are pending before a competent civil court, and an application is made seeking transfer of the case from one district to another district within the state, such transfer may be ordered:

• A. Only upon agreement between the parties.
• B. By the High Court.
• C. Only after conclusion of trial.
• D. Only by the court in which the suit is pending.

Hint:

Section 24 CPC: High Court = State-wide transfer power. If you need to move a case across district lines, the High Court is the competent authority to make it happen!

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908, governs the general power of transfer and withdrawal of suits, appeals, or other proceedings.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
- Under Section 24(1), the High Court or the District Court may, at any stage, transfer any suit, appeal, or other proceeding pending before it for trial or disposal to any court subordinate to it and competent to try or dispose of the same.
- When a transfer is required between different districts within the same state, the High Court has the jurisdiction to order such transfer.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The High Court has the authority to order such transfers. Option (B) is correct.

Answer 2

This question turns on who under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 holds the power to transfer a pending civil suit from one district to another within the same state. Section 24 of the CPC vests this power in specified superior courts, and testing each option against the text of that section shows which choice survives.

1. Option (A): The idea that transfer can happen "only upon agreement between the parties" has no basis in Section 24. The provision gives the power to the High Court or the District Court to act suo motu, on the application of any party, or even on the report of a subordinate court. Consent of both sides is never made a precondition, so this option is incorrect.
2. Option (B): Section 24(1) expressly empowers the High Court to transfer any suit, appeal, or proceeding pending before a court subordinate to it, to another court likewise subordinate to it and competent to try the matter. Since a District Court's own subordinate jurisdiction is confined to its own district, only a court standing above every district in the state, namely the High Court, can direct a suit to move from one district to another. This matches the fact pattern exactly, so this option is correct.
3. Option (C): The statute uses the words "at any stage" in Section 24(1), meaning the power of transfer can be exercised before, during, or even after evidence has begun, not only once the trial has concluded. Waiting for the trial to end would defeat the very purpose of a transfer application, which is often to protect a fair trial while the case is still being heard. This option is therefore incorrect.
4. Option (D): The court in which the suit is currently pending has no power under Section 24 to direct its own transfer to a court in another district; that authority sits one level higher, with the High Court or the District Court, precisely because a trial court cannot enlarge its own jurisdiction beyond its district. This option is incorrect.

Once every alternative is checked against the actual text of Section 24, the only option consistent with the law is that such a transfer is ordered by the High Court, since it alone possesses supervisory power over all subordinate courts across the districts of the state.

Therefore, the correct answer is By the High Court.