Jaitley proposes courts for quick resolution of commercial disputes

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said the government proposes to set up exclusive commercial courts including in various high courts for the quick resolution of commercial disputes.

Announcing the measure in his budget speech for 2015-16, he said that government would consult all the stakeholders before bringing a bill in parliament for setting up court to exclusively deal with commercial disputes.

For the "quick resolution of commercial disputes, the government proposes to set up exclusive commercial divisions in various courts in India based on the recommendations of the 253rd Report of the Law Commission", he said.

The Law Commission in its 253rd report submitted to the government Jan 29, had while recommending the setting up the commercial courts, the commercial divisions and the commercial appellate divisions of high courts had said that the "goal is to ensure that cases are disposed of expeditiously, fairly and at reasonable cost to the litigant".

It maintained that the setting up of such courts would not only benefit the litigant but other potential litigants (especially those engaged in trade and commerce) would also be advantaged by the reduction in backlog because of quick resolution of commercial disputes.

Quick resolution of commercial disputes would further the "economic growth, increase foreign investment, and make India an attractive place to do business", it noted, stressing that a "robust dispute resolution mechanism is a sine qua non for the all-round development of an economy".