Supreme Court flags need for more commercial courts, seeks State-wise data on litigation trends

Speedy resolution of commercial disputes is integral to the ease of doing business, the Supreme Court said on Monday as it flagged the need to assess whether more commercial courts are required across states.

Hence, a bench of Chief Justice of India CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana proceeded to seek the latest data on the number of pending commercial cases along with the corresponding infrastructure provided to commercial courts.

"The whole idea of commercial courts is to expedite the hearing... A part of ease of doing business is how fast a commercial dispute is decided by the courts," the Court said explaining the logic behind setting up commercial courts.

The Court asked whether there was any evaluation of the pendency or trend of cases filed under the Commercial Courts Act.

The amicus curiae informed the bench that this information has not been placed on record, though the Court's April 2025 order had specifically asked High Courts to indicate the time being taken in such matters.

The Chief Justice said the requirement for additional courts would depend on the State and establishing courts in one go may not always be feasible since it depends on infrastructure and availability of officers.

He said a phased, state-wise assessment was needed along with an indication of how many courts were immediately required, since long delays could not be afforded.

Senior Advocate Arvind Datar also said that the requirement would vary from one State to another.

The CJI agreed.

"Some of these States have cosmopolitan or major urban cities where commercial litigation might be very high as compared to other States which are dominated by rural areas," the CJI said.

The Court then proceeded to seek the latest data as on January 31, 2026 with regard to the number of pending commercial cases and the infrastructure made available to commercial courts.

The Court also directed the concerned parties to collect State-wise data on the growing trend of commercial litigation and prepare an estimate of the increased litigation and the requirement for additional commercial courts in such states. The Court said this information would be necessary to issue appropriate directions for the establishment of additional commercial courts.

The matter will be heard again after two weeks.

[Read Live Thread]