Karnataka HC Transfers 73-Year-Old Woman’s Appeal Against Rejection of Plea to Set Aside Decree to District Court under Civil Courts Act

The appellant filed an appeal under Order XLIII Rule 1(d) CPC challenging the Principal Senior Civil Judge and CJM, Mangaluru’s order dated 7 April 2025 dismissing her petition under Order IX Rule 13 read with Section 151 CPC

The High Court considered whether it could entertain the appeal and, finding it not maintainable before it, directed transfer of the case record to the District Court

The Court relied on Section 19(1) of the Karnataka Civil Courts Act, 1964

the Division Bench decision in Smt. Narayanamma v. State of Karnataka, W.P. No. 17588 of 2024 c/w W.A. No. 200260 of 2025, dated 8 July 2026, which had been affirmed by the Supreme Court in SLP(C) No. 025075/2026 on 3 August 2026

Applying these authorities, the Court held that the appeal was not maintainable before the High Court

The Court applied Section 19(1) and the cited, Supreme Court-affirmed precedent to conclude that this appeal lay outside its jurisdiction

Rather than determine the merits, it directed transfer of the record to the Principal District and Sessions Judge for assignment to the competent appellate court, preserving the parties’ rights and contentions

It directed the Registry to transfer the full record, including any pending applications, to the concerned Principal District and Sessions Judge for assignment to the competent appellate court; it made no observations on the merits and left all contentions open

The matter was listed before the District Court on 30 November 2026