The Mediation Muddle

Are recent amendments to the Commercial Courts Act a boon or a bane, asks Dr P Madhava Rao

- Dr P Madhava Rao

The laws that govern the resolution of disputes arising from economic activity are being continuously reviewed and revised by the Government of India in order to make it easier for businesses to operate. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996, as revised in 2016 and 2019, introduced arbitration into the legal system by reducing the amount of involvement of courts in the arbitration process. In the case of business disputes, pre-institutional mediation is mandated by the Business Courts Act 2015, which was established in 2015 and revised in 2018. On the other hand, the Mediation Act, 2023, which was passed in 2023, institutionalised mediation procedures in India.

As a result of these amendments, as well as proposed amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 and new enactments, the Government recently proposed amending the Commercial Courts Act of 2015 on 8 November 2024. The purpose of this amendment is to simplify the process of approaching, initiating, and resolving commercial disputes through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and mainstream dispute resolution systems through commercial courts.

Thus, through the Commercial Courts amendment bill, 2024, the Government seeks to "provide for the constitution of dedicated Commercial Courts exclusively for the purpose of exercising the jurisdiction and powers conferred under the Commercial Court Act, 2015 and Commercial Courts (Arbitration) and Commercial Divisions (Arbitration) exclusively for the purpose of exercising the jurisdiction and powers granted to the courts under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 2015 and to amend them. The proposed revisions aim to offer further impetus for faster and more specialised adjudication of commercial issues, as well as to simplify the appropriate procedure for commercial dispute resolution in courts."