RS-COMMERCIALCOURTS

Par passes bill for speedy disposal of commercial disputes
    New Delhi, Aug 8 (PTI) 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 Parliament today.
    The bill, passed in the Lok Sabha in July 31, was adopted
in the Raya Sabha by voice vote amid opposition demand for
strengthening the necessary infrastructure for speedy disposal
of cases.
    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 small businesses should get their disputes redressed like
the big ones.
    Maintaining that efforts were being made to improve the
court infrastructure, he said under a central scheme, 42 per
cent of the Rs 6,302 crore was given to the states for
infrastructure development in the last four years alone.
    Even measures to fill up vacant posts of judges in the
higher judiciary were being undertaken, he said.
    However, the government has no powers to address the
vacancies in subordinate courts where the 5,000 posts are
lying vacant at present, he said.
    Prasad suggested that an All India Judiciary Exam will
help address the current problem but "big courts are opposing
to this idea."
    Earlier while introducing the bill for consideration,
Prasad said that commercial disputes need to be redressed
faster at a time when the country's economy is growing at a
faster rate.
    Participating in the debate, Bhubaneswar Kalita (Cong)
expressed concern over the government taking the ordinance
route frequently to bring amendments to various laws.
    He, however, supported the bill saying it was necessary
considering the increase in financial disputes.
    He pointed out that reducing the pecuniary jurisdiction
of commercial courts to 3 lakh will overburden the courts.
    Harshavardhan Singh Dungarpur (BJP), A Vijay Kumar
(AIADMK), Ramnath Takur (JD-U), Manjoj Kumar Jha (RJD) and
D Raja (CPI) also participated in the debate. PTI LUX
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