Getting down to business

Getting down to business

Commercial disputes; Ease of doing Bussiness

Article:

India ranked lowest in the enforcing contracts” parameter of the In the ease of doing business rankings of the World Bank, so it is important to have speedy justice in commercial disputes.

Important Facts:

1. With rapid economic development and large inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), commercial disputes have been on a rise.
2. The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 was enacted to address the issue of faster resolution of commercial disputes.
3. Recently, India had ranked 100^th among 190 countries in World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Index
4. To further improve India’s ranking in the ‘Ease of doing business’ index, Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill of 2018 has been introduced
5. The bill has been approved by the Union Cabinet and is presently pending in the Parliament
6. Aim of the Bill: To create a favourable environment for investors to establish and operate business in India

Proposals of the Bill:

• To lower the specified value of a commercial dispute to 3 Lakh from the present 1Crore. Therefore, commercial disputes of a reasonable value can be decided by commercial courts.
• Establishment of Commercial Courts at district Judge level for the territories over which respective High Courts have ordinary original civil jurisdiction, as in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Himachal Pradesh
• Introduction of the Pre- Institution Mediation (PIM) Process in cases where no urgent, interim relief is contemplated in order to provide an opportunity to the parties to resolve the commercial disputes outside the ambit of the courts through the authorities constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
• Insertion of a new Section 21A which will enable the Centre to make rules and procedure for PIM