New Delhi: Opposing the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018 in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, BJD’s Puri MP Pinaki Mishra said, “The Indian judiciary today has become moribund. It has come down to a very sorry state and this piece of legislation is going to increase its burden.”
Speaking on behalf of the party, Puri MP raised concern over reducing the denomination value of these courts from `1 crore to `3 lakh.
Citing the report of the Standing Committee on Personal and Law Justice which recommended for enhancing the limit to `2 crore, Mishra said that lowering the limit will burden the judiciary.
“Why did the government bring down the denomination value of these courts? This has been brought down to an alarming `3 lakh which I’m not able to understand at all. This is going to choke the courts completely,” said Mishra. He also said that the limit should have been raised up to `5 crore.
“The original idea was to fast-track commercial disputes as India has the poorest possible reputation for dispensation of justice and quick disposal of high denomination and high value claims. This should have been actually taken up to at least `5 crore so that heavy duty litigation could have been dealt with,” he added.
Mishra blamed the government for large number vacancies in the judiciary. The High Courts in the country are grappling with over 40 per cent vacancies.
“The frightening fact today is that 143 cases of judicial appointments of the Supreme Court (SC) and High Courts are pending with the government after the collegiums of the HCs and the SC have handed them over to government. We have roughly 800 judges in HCs. The manner in which government has sat over the file is responsible for vacancies in court,” Mishra added.
The Bill was introduced by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the Lok Sabha Wednesday. The Bill amends the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, which provides for commercial divisions of HC to adjudicate disputes worth at least `1 crore. The Bill reduces this limit to `3 lakh.
The Bill also allows state governments to establish commercial courts and commercial appellate courts at the district level where HCs do not have original jurisdiction.
Rita seeks flyover at Jaraka on NH 16
New Delhi: The Biju Janata Dal MP, Rita Tarai, Wednesday demanded construction of a flyover on National Highway 16 at Jaraka in Jajpur district to prevent accidents in the area.
Speaking during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, the Jajpur MP urged the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to construct a flyover on the NH. “There is an urgent need to construct a flyover on the National Highway 16 at Jaraka in Jajpur. A lot of road users are facing difficulties and frequent accidents are taking place on the National Highway.” She also urged the Centre to ensure cleaning of road drainage system on both sides of the highway.
“People in the area are facing a lot of problems due to clogged drains, especially during rainy season. Rainwater enters the houses of people in the area and affects the normal life. I urged the minister to urgently prioritise these long standing demands,” Tarai said.
