Counter-claims and Section 12A: A Critical Study of Vijay v. Havells India Ltd.
A counter-claim in a pending commercial suit is a "suit" for Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, and ordinarily needs its own pre-institution mediation. The requirement is treated as satisfied only where the counter-claimed disputes had already formed part of, or were capable of being meaningfully addressed in, an earlier Section 12A mediation between the parties (in a non-settlement case, ordinarily because the defendant had disclosed them there). In Vijay v. Havells India Ltd. (FAO(COMM) 46/2025, decided 01.07.2026 — 2026:DHC:5196-DB) , a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court dismissed an appeal against the rejection of a counter-claim under Order VII Rule 11 CPC. The plaintiff had itself skipped mediation by invoking the urgent-interim-relief exception. The defendant's counter-claim, filed without mediation, was nonetheless thrown out. The Bench rejected both extremes argued before it: • Rejected: that a counter-claim is...