 "Delhi HC Chief Justice nominates judges for 'commercial courts'")
The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court nominated five justices to occupy the Single Judge Benches of the ‘Commercial Division’ with effect from 8 August 2016. The judges selected for the task are Justice(s) S Muralidhar, Hima Kohli, Manmohan Singh, Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Vibhu Bakhru.
Additionally, the ‘Commercial Appellate Division’ has also been constituted effective the same date, with four division benches consisting of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal (DB –I), Justices Indira Banerjee and V. Kameshwar Rao (DB-II), Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar (DB-III) and Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani (DB-IV).
The present nominations have been made by virtue of Section 4(2) & 5(2) of The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act 2015 (the Act), which came into force on 1 January 2016.
The Delhi High Court was the first to establish commercial benches way back in March 2015, upon the recommendation of the 253rd Law Commission Report. After the passage of the Act on the topic, the high court set up the formalised commercial divisions in May 2016, as envisaged by the new law.
The introduction of these specialised divisions were made with a view to streamline the civil judicial system and ensure speedy disposal of the large amounts of commercial matters relating to arbitration, insurance, intellectual property, taxation, arbitration, banking and company law that regularly approach the high courts.
According to Ritu Bhalla, senior partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, the Act is a welcome enactment as it attempts to consolidate the previously un-consolidated commercial dispute framework within the high courts. “The statute promotes the evolution of commercial law at a more rapid pace and helps businesses resolve disputes faster through its many time bound provisions,” said Bhalla.
The Act also bars revision applications against interlocutory orders, including any challenges to jurisdiction, which are only allowed as appeals after final adjudications in a bid to enhance timeliness in commercial proceedings.
The commercial divisions now deal with matters valued at Rs 1 crore and above, while the commercial appellate divisions handle appeals arising out of these cases.
According to Ashish Prasad, partner, Economic Laws Practice, the Act greatly enhances the pecuniary jurisdiction of commercial disputes that fall under the purview of the high courts. “Creating these designated high-value courts have allowed for a lot of cases to be transferred out of the high court jurisdiction, making the process of commercial dispute resolution faster” said Prasad.
On the other hand, some experts still seem to say that the specified value of the commercial divisions are still on the lower side and further enhancements are required to utilise the system more effectively.
The commercial divisions have also been scrutinised due to the sheer breath of work the courts still have to undertake. Under the Act, the divisions are expected to deal with over 20 areas of commercial law, which include even carriage of goods and oil exploration disputes.
According to the 253rd Law Commission Report, there were over 3,500 commercial cases in the Delhi High Court before the establishment of the present system, which formed 27.63 per cent of all original jurisdiction suits. The introduction of these specialised divisions with minimum specified values were to curb this number greatly.
As will all innovation targeted at improving the judicial structure, a lot will depend on the infrastructure provided to these commercial benches in years to come. As Chief Justice T S Thakur had poignantly mentioned before the establishment of these commercial divisions in April, an old wine in a new bottle simply won’t serve the purpose.
Additionally, the ‘Commercial Appellate Division’ has also been constituted effective the same date, with four division benches consisting of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal (DB –I), Justices Indira Banerjee and V. Kameshwar Rao (DB-II), Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar (DB-III) and Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani (DB-IV).
The present nominations have been made by virtue of Section 4(2) & 5(2) of The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act 2015 (the Act), which came into force on 1 January 2016.
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The Act was enacted by Parliament to establish commercial benches consisting of commercial divisions and commercial appellate divisions (in high courts with original jurisdictions) to adjudicate on commercial disputes of specified values and matters connected therewith.
The Delhi High Court was the first to establish commercial benches way back in March 2015, upon the recommendation of the 253rd Law Commission Report. After the passage of the Act on the topic, the high court set up the formalised commercial divisions in May 2016, as envisaged by the new law.
The introduction of these specialised divisions were made with a view to streamline the civil judicial system and ensure speedy disposal of the large amounts of commercial matters relating to arbitration, insurance, intellectual property, taxation, arbitration, banking and company law that regularly approach the high courts.
According to Ritu Bhalla, senior partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, the Act is a welcome enactment as it attempts to consolidate the previously un-consolidated commercial dispute framework within the high courts. “The statute promotes the evolution of commercial law at a more rapid pace and helps businesses resolve disputes faster through its many time bound provisions,” said Bhalla.
The Act also bars revision applications against interlocutory orders, including any challenges to jurisdiction, which are only allowed as appeals after final adjudications in a bid to enhance timeliness in commercial proceedings.
The commercial divisions now deal with matters valued at Rs 1 crore and above, while the commercial appellate divisions handle appeals arising out of these cases.
According to Ashish Prasad, partner, Economic Laws Practice, the Act greatly enhances the pecuniary jurisdiction of commercial disputes that fall under the purview of the high courts. “Creating these designated high-value courts have allowed for a lot of cases to be transferred out of the high court jurisdiction, making the process of commercial dispute resolution faster” said Prasad.
On the other hand, some experts still seem to say that the specified value of the commercial divisions are still on the lower side and further enhancements are required to utilise the system more effectively.
The commercial divisions have also been scrutinised due to the sheer breath of work the courts still have to undertake. Under the Act, the divisions are expected to deal with over 20 areas of commercial law, which include even carriage of goods and oil exploration disputes.
According to the 253rd Law Commission Report, there were over 3,500 commercial cases in the Delhi High Court before the establishment of the present system, which formed 27.63 per cent of all original jurisdiction suits. The introduction of these specialised divisions with minimum specified values were to curb this number greatly.
As will all innovation targeted at improving the judicial structure, a lot will depend on the infrastructure provided to these commercial benches in years to come. As Chief Justice T S Thakur had poignantly mentioned before the establishment of these commercial divisions in April, an old wine in a new bottle simply won’t serve the purpose.