The government’s recent call for public feedback on the draft Commercial Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aims to make the resolution of commercial disputes quicker and more specialized. This amendment marks another effort to enhance India’s judicial infrastructure by improving the efficiency of commercial courts and ensuring more targeted adjudication of business-related cases.
Understanding Commercial Courts
Commercial Courts, established under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, handle disputes from various business and trade sectors, including transactions involving merchants and bankers, import-export services, intellectual property rights, and more. These courts provide an essential platform to address business-related conflicts, enabling quicker and more specialized legal resolution compared to traditional court systems.
Key Provisions of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015
Types of Courts: The Act provides for three types of judicial bodies to handle commercial disputes: Commercial Courts, Commercial Appellate Courts, and Commercial Appellate Divisions within High Courts.
Scope and Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction of these courts extends to cases arising from business contracts, agreements, IP rights issues, and corporate transactions, ensuring that complex commercial cases receive due attention from a specialized judiciary.
Establishment: Commercial Courts are established by the State Government in consultation with the relevant High Court, while the Commercial Divisions within High Courts are set up by the Chief Justice of the respective High Courts.
Objectives of the Draft Commercial Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2024
The 2024 draft bill intends to:
Speed Up Adjudication: Enhance mechanisms for faster resolution, addressing the prolonged timelines that have traditionally plagued business-related legal cases.
Strengthen Specialized Adjudication: Make commercial dispute resolution more effective by focusing on specialized expertise, which is crucial for disputes involving complex trade and intellectual property matters.
Promote Ease of Doing Business: By resolving commercial cases faster and more efficiently, the draft bill aims to contribute positively to India's ease of doing business index, enhancing the country's investment attractiveness.
Additional Insights for UPSC Aspirants
The Commercial Courts Amendment and its background play an important role in the GS Paper II (Governance) and Paper III (Economic Development) syllabus, particularly concerning ease of doing business, judicial reforms, and foreign investments. Efficient commercial courts reduce the legal risks and uncertainties businesses face, supporting economic growth and legal predictability. Moreover, understanding the framework of commercial courts provides valuable insights into India’s efforts to align its legal infrastructure with global standards for efficient and transparent dispute resolution.
Practice Question
Consider the following statements about the Commercial Courts Act, 2015:
Commercial Courts are established by the Chief Justice of India after consulting with the Central Government.
Commercial Divisions within High Courts are constituted by the State Government after consulting with the Chief Justice of the High Court.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation: The first statement is incorrect, as Commercial Courts are constituted by the State Government in consultation with the respective High Court. The second statement is incorrect as well; the Chief Justice of the High Court is responsible for establishing Commercial Divisions within High Courts.
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