ThePrint ThePrintAM: What does research institute DAKSH's report say about the state of India's commercial tribunal system?
Sep 29, 2025
Dive into the intriguing insights from the Daksh report on India's commercial tribunal system. Discover the staggering backlog of 3.56 lakh pending cases, equating to 7.48% of GDP. Justice Singh emphasizes the need for specialized judges and reforms to improve accountability. Learn about the structural barriers and procedural deficiencies hindering progress, as well as the unsettling trend of tribunals becoming parking spots for retired bureaucrats. Concrete steps toward enhancing tribunal independence and addressing judge workload also take center stage.
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Need For Specialist Judges
- Tribunals need specialised, technical judges to handle complex commercial disputes affecting the economy.
- Accountability for non-deciding judges and stronger expertise will improve tribunal effectiveness.
Judges Doing Minimal Tribunal Hours
- Justice Singh described tribunals where judges effectively work only two to three hours a day.
- He contrasted high dispute volumes with little discussion on judge-to-case ratios and suggested dissolving tribunals with no work.
Backlog Is An Economic Burden
- Commercial tribunals have a backlog of 3.56 lakh cases valued at Rs 24.7 lakh crore, a large economic burden.
- Pending cases equal about 7.48% of 2024-25 GDP while only ~350 members run these tribunals.