High courts to get special wings for commercial disputes

HYDERABAD - The proposed commercial divisions of high courts will help resolve commercial disputes speedily, Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily said Sunday.

He told the 17th Commonwealth Law Conference here that the Commercial Division of High Courts Bill is before parliament.

Voicing his concern over the increasing trend in commercial litigation, he said this was taking up most of the time of courts. “The commercial divisions will follow fast track procedure for disposal of cases,” he said.

He said a national mission for delivery of justice and legal reforms was set up to reduce the number of cases of under trial and to ease congestion in jail. As a result of the initiative, more than 450,000 cases were disposed within 10 months.

Moily said gram nyayalayas (rural courts) were set up at the grassroots level to dispose cases within six months. They exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction.

The minister said steps were also taken to improve the justice delivery system through reforms.

The amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act were aimed at speedy disposal of cases relating to both domestic and international arbitration.

“Steps were also taken for enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. This will make India as the most preferred destination for international arbitration,” the minister said.

On electoral reforms, the minister termed India as a model for new emerging democracies but felt that there were a number of areas in the country that still needed to be strengthened.