Supreme Court Flags Need for More Commercial Courts, Seeks State-Wise Data on Litigation T

Speedy resolution of commercial disputes is integral to the ease of doing business, the Supreme Court said on Monday as it flagged the need to assess whether more commercial courts are required across states.Hence, a bench of Chief Justice of India CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana proceeded to seek the latest data on the number of pending commercial cases along with the corresponding infrastructure provided to commercial courts."The whole idea of commercial courts is to expedite the hearing... A part of ease of doing business is how fast a commercial dispute is decided by the courts," the Court said explaining the logic behind setting up commercial courts. Justice Joymalya Bagchi, CJI Surya Kant and Justice V MohanaThe Court asked whether there was any evaluation of the pendency or trend of cases filed under the Commercial Courts Act. The amicus curiae informed the bench that this information has not been placed on record, though the Court's April 2025 order had specifically asked High Courts to indicate the time being taken in such matters.The Chief Justice said the requirement for additional courts would depend on the State and establishing courts in one go may not always be feasible since it depends on infrastructure and availability of officers. He said a phased, state-wise assessment was needed along with an indication of how many courts were immediately required, since long delays could not be afforded.Supreme Court, Arvind DatarSenior Advocate