Fast-Tracking Commercial Disputes: A Reality Or Distant Dream?

Are present laws providing enough impetus to deal with the long-standing menace of pendency of cases

As on 03 June 2019, 2,24,62,143 cases are pending (for more than one year) in the district and taluka courts across India,1 i.e. 72% of all civil and criminal cases filed in courts are pending adjudication.2 On an average, a case takes 1445 days to be concluded (from its filing till enforcement).3 It takes 1095 days, on an average, for a trial to be concluded or a judgment to be delivered.4 And, the judgment takes an average of 305 days to be enforced.5

From a global perspective, India is ranked at 77 out of the 190 countries assessed by the World Bank in its Doing Business Report, 2019 (DBR, 2019). Conspicuously, the DBR, 2019 ranks India at 163 in enforcing contracts.6

These numbers speak louder than words to describe the current state of affairs clogging the Indian judicial system.

This article takes a three-pronged approach to access whether the present laws are providing enough impetus to deal with the long-standing menace of pendency of cases.

Discourage litigation by adopting mediation

As an alternate to the adversarial forms of dispute resolution, mediation is fast emerging as a popular medium to resolve disputes. The legislature had recognized the importance of mediation in 1999,7 when alternative dispute resolution (ADR) was included in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, granting inter alia, mediation, statutory recognition.

In recent times, the legislature has introduced mandatory pre-suit mediation before filing commercial suits, which do not contemplate an urgent relief.8 This welcome initiative towards pre-suit mediation is modeled on the lines of similar laws enacted in Italy, Turkey, Greece, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland, etc.