Om Prakash Srivastava v Union of India

Facts

• A dispute arose regarding which court had proper territorial jurisdiction to entertain proceedings, given that elements connected to the parties, but not necessarily the substantive cause of action, touched multiple territorial jurisdictions
• The question required the Court to examine what constitutes a sufficient connection between a forum and the cause of action to found jurisdiction

Issue

1. What is the correct test for determining territorial jurisdiction where a cause of action may appear to touch more than one territorial forum, and can a party's residence alone found jurisdiction.

Held

• The Supreme Court held that territorial jurisdiction is properly founded where the cause of action, wholly or in part, arises, consistent with the general scheme under Section 20 CPC (and the analogous criminal procedure provisions on place of trial)
• A party's mere residence within a particular territorial jurisdiction, without a substantive connection to the operative facts of the cause of action, is insufficient to found jurisdiction in that forum
• Courts must examine the actual facts constituting the cause of action to determine where it substantially arose, rather than permitting forum selection based on incidental or contrived connections

Ratio Decidendi

Territorial jurisdiction is determined by the situs of the cause of action, examined on the actual operative facts of the claim; incidental factors such as a party's residence, without a genuine link to those operative facts, cannot found jurisdiction in an otherwise unconnected forum.