Tribunals' case backlog ties up 7.5% of India's GDP

Report flags vacancies, procedural gaps, independence issues at commercial tribunals

- BHAVINI MISHRA

India's commercial tribunals are grappling with a mounting backlog of 356,000 cases, worth ₹24.72 trillion, as of September, according to a study by legal think-tank DAKSH. The value of these pending cases amounts to about 7.48 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2024-25, the think-tank estimates in its State of Tribunals 2025 report.

Commercial tribunals were initially envisaged as "specialised, quasi-judicial bodies capable of delivering faster and more efficient adjudication". But successive legislative interventions, chronic vacancies, procedural gaps, and concerns about the independence of these adjudicatory bodies have "steadily eroded their effectiveness", the report noted.