Goa assembly passes bill to streamline suit valuation for deciding jurisdiction of court

The Goa assembly has passed a bill aimed at streamlining the process of valuing civil suits, particularly those related to land, for the purpose of determining the jurisdiction of courts.

The Goa Suits Valuation Bill, 2025, empowers the state government, in consultation with the high court, to frame rules for determining land values across different areas, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said in the House where the legislation was passed on Wednesday.

Uniformity in valuation is essential for reducing disputes and confusion regarding jurisdiction and fees, he added.

The bill, moved by CM Sawant in the House, seeks to align the valuation process with the recently enacted Goa Court Fees Act, 2024, and replaces the Goa Suits Valuation Act, 1965.

Sawant told the House that the legislation will simplify how suits, specially those involving land or interest in land, are valued for court jurisdiction and court fee purposes.

The bill aims to provide a new framework for valuing suits in Goa, aligning with the provisions of the Goa Court Fees Act, 2024 (Goa Act 15 of 2024) and ensuring consistency and clarity in the valuation process, which is essential for determining court fees and jurisdiction.

The principal object of this bill is to prescribe a simple mode of valuing suits pertaining to land for the purpose of determining the jurisdiction of those courts with respect to them. Most of those suits are cognisable exclusively by civil courts, as per the bill details.

The legislation also ensures that in certain categories of suits, the court fee and jurisdictional value will be treated as the same, and it includes safeguards to prevent unnecessary appeals based on technical objections over valuation.

The legislation empowers the high court to fix notional values for categories of cases that are difficult to quantify. It also outlines procedures to raise jurisdictional objections and lays down conditions under which such objections may be entertained by appellate or revisional courts.

The bill will come into force on a date to be notified by the state government and includes a two-year window for issuing orders to remove any difficulties during its implementation.

Outgoing Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai had granted his recommendation for the introduction of the bill under Article 207 of the Constitution.