NEW DELHI, July 8: The government’s plan to establish commercial divisions in high courts to settle high value business disputes as part of its ‘ease of doing business’ initiative has been delayed as a parliamentary panel examining the proposed law has been granted extension beyond the Monsoon session.
The department related standing committee on Law and Personnel was to table its report in Parliament on The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 by end of July.
But it has been granted a month’s extension till August 30 by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, a Rajya Sabha bulletin said.
The committee is at present touring various states to get a feedback from people and legal experts on the various provisions of the Bill.
As the Monsoon session commences from July 21 and ends on August 13, any progress on the bill — pending in the Rajya Sabha — is now possible only in the Winter session.
The Commercial Division of High Courts Bill has been pending for a long time. After being referred to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee in UPA’s tenure, it was sent to the Law Commission. Based on the law panel’s recommendations, the present government re-drafted the bill as part of its ‘ease of doing business in India’ policy. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in April this year.
The introduction of the Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts and Commercial Courts Bill was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the budget speech.
Once the proposed bill gets parliamentary nod, all
pending suits and applications relating to commercial disputes involving a claim of Rs one crore and above in the high courts and civil courts will be transferred to the relevant Commercial Division or Commercial Courts, as the case may be.
Commercial Divisions are to be set up in those high courts which are already exercising ordinary original civil jurisdiction, such as Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, and Himachal Pradesh high courts.
Commercial Divisions will exercise jurisdiction over all cases and applications relating to commercial disputes. The Commercial Division shall have territorial jurisdiction over such area on which it has original jurisdiction.
According to the Law Ministry proposal, Commercial Courts which will be equivalent to district courts are to be set up in states and Union Territories where the high courts do not have ordinary original civil jurisdiction.
The proposal says that Commercial Appellate Division will be set up in all the high courts to hear appeals against orders of Commercial Division of high court and orders of commercial courts.
But Commercial Divisions or Commercial Courts will not have jurisdiction in matters relating to commercial dispute, where the jurisdiction of the civil court has been either expressly or impliedly barred under law, it said.
Commercial dispute has been defined broadly to mean dispute arising out of ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents, joint venture and partnership agreements, intellectual property rights, insurance and other areas, as per the proposal. (PTI)
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