Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Saturday said that judicial systems function like the load-bearing wall of a nation by providing the foundation for economic progress, technological development, dispute resolution and sustainable energy.

CJI Kant made the comment while delivering the welcome address at the BRICS Chief Justices’ Forum hosted at the Supreme Court of India.

"Our role, as representatives of the justice delivery system, is much like that of a load-bearing wall within a building. No architect ever photographs it for the brochure, and yet no building stands without it. That, precisely, is the place, judicial systems occupy in the life of a nation,” the CJI said.

CJI Surya Kant added that uncertainty over resolution of commercial dispute directly increases the cost of doing business.

When foreign investors lack confidence in a country’s dispute-resolution system, contracts carry higher risk premiums, additional securities and stringent exit clauses, he said.

“It becomes, in every practical sense, an unwritten punitive cost of doing business, one that no legislature ever imposed, yet every investor ends up paying,” the CJI added.

The Courts that deliver judgments swiftly, consistently and in reliable language can remove this hidden cost altogether, he emphasised.