Government Trying To Fix Judicial System Which Dampens Ease Of Doing Business In India, Says MoS Anurag Thakur

The government is trying to fix the Indian judicial system which is at 163rd position in terms of global ranking and brings down the ease of doing business in India, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur.

He stated that whatever steps the government is in the process of taking such as enforcement of rules and laws is to improve arbitration, since most businesses opt for the United Kingdom (UK) or Singapore for arbitration.

He stated that fixing the arbitration process and speeding it up was the reason why the government passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on August 1.

In this connection, it may be recalled that prominent Supreme Court lawyer Harish Salve had stated in a recent interview to www.theleaflet.in, a website run by former Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising on September 15, that he held the Supreme Court squarely responsible for the ongoing economic slowdown in India.

“…I squarely blame the Supreme Court. I can understand holding people responsible for the wrong distribution of licenses in 2G… Blanket cancellation of licenses where foreigners are investing… See when a foreigner invested it was your rule which said he must have an Indian partner. The foreigner did not know how the Indian partner got a license. Foreigners invested billions of dollars, and with one stroke of the pen, the Supreme Court knocked all of them out. That’s when the decline of the economy began. The Supreme Court, the way they have been completely inconsistent in dealing with commercial cases, causes grave concern in the minds of investors. So, you increase the price of an investment,” Salve was quoted as telling Indira Jaising who had interviewed him recently.

Incidentally, The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 1, was introduced in Rajya Sabha by Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad on July 15, 2019.

It seeks to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.The Act contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration, and defines the law for conducting conciliation proceedings.

In order to speed up the arbitration process, the Act has mandated that arbitral tribunals must endeavor to dispose of international arbitration matters within 12 months.