Civil court – jurisdiction – cpc S. 9 – Therefore, it is a fundamental presumption in statutory interpretation that ordinary civil courts have jurisdiction to decide all matters of a civil nature. As a corollary,
(i) provisions excluding jurisdiction of civil courts should receive strict construction. (See Bhagwat Singh v. State of Rajasthan : AIR 1964 SC 444; Raichand v. Union of India : AIR 1964 SC 1268), and
(ii) provisions conferring jurisdiction on authorities and tribunals other than civil courts (See Kasturi and Sons v. Salivateswaran : AIR 1958 SC 507; Upper Doab Sugar Mills v. Shahdara (Delhi) Saharanpur Light Railway : AIR 1963 SC 217) have to be strictly construed.
read here 2008 PLRonline 0104