A bill to amend the law for speedy disposal of commercial disputes and seeking to reduce the pecuniary jurisdiction of commercial courts from Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 lakh was passed by the Lok Sabha today.
Replying to the debate on the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said "this bill is a larger narrative pursuance to ensuring India's performance in the ease of doing business."
During the debate, Deputy Speaker M Thambi Durai wondered "who is supreme -- Parliament or Supreme Court? We are lawmakers. We have to find the solution. Judges are interpreters of law, we are the lawmakers."
Replying to him, Prasad said "we have accepted the judgement (on National Judicial Appoinments Commission), but, as a law student, we have serious reservations about the judgement."
He also informed that in 2017, the government appointed 115 judges and this year, "we appointed in 34 judges in the higher judiciary."
Observing that ease of doing business was a ranking by the World Bank, Prasad said "when we came to power, we were at 142 and now we have jumped 42 points. India today is at 100 as far as ease of doing business is concerned."
Raising the issue of vacancy in higher judiciary, he said it was also a fact that not many names were coming from the Supreme Court Collegium to fill the posts as there was a "discord within the Collegium."