India to Set Up Tribunals for Economic Disputes

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Jun. 11 – India is considering establishing dispute resolutions panels and courts that will specifically address economic disputes.

This could that could lead to revisions in Indian law. Initially, the proposal was presented by the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry. “Legislations dealing with sectors such as pension funds, insurance, banking, company affairs and mining will include special provisions for setting up such special courts,” a senior government official said.

Currently there are almost 30 million cases pending in the lower judiciary and higher courts in India. On average, a court case in the country can take as long as 15 years to obtain a verdict.

“These special courts will take up disputes arising in their respective areas and their decisions will be final. Appeals can be made to high courts, only on points of law,” the official told The Economic Times requesting anonymity.

If the special panels are approved, it will allow them to impose binding decisions for economic disputes stuck in the lower and high courts and ease their burden. Only specific cases may be referred to the high courts.

“Economic offences and disputes have a unique character that needs to be dealt by adjudicators possessing specialised knowledge,” an official with power sector regulator Central Electricity and Regulatory Authority said.

“While some work in this regard has been done by constituting sector specific tribunals, regular courts are still used for a large number of economic disputes,” he added.