Karnataka High Court Upholds the Civil Courts and High Court Amendment Acts Reshaping the State's Civil Appellate Jurisdiction
The Karnataka High Court in Narayanamma v. State of Karnataka upholds the 2023 amendments that move all first appeals from Senior Civil Judges to the District Courts. Made retrospective from 2007 without a saving clause, the amendments put seventeen years of decided appeals in doubt. The Division Bench cured the omission by reading down Section 4, protecting concluded matters while transferring pending appeals. Our analysis asks where interpretation ends and legislation begins.