Supreme Court seeks nationwide data on pending commercial litigation, court infrastructure

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A view of the Supreme Court of India. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Supreme Court on Thursday (September 24, 2026) sought updated data on the pendency of commercial cases and infrastructure available to commercial courts across the country.

For the purpose of establishing additional commercial courts to deal with the rising number of such cases, the Supreme Court on August 10 issued notices to States to ensure their presence in hearing the plea filed by the Indian Commercial and Arbitration Bar Association (ICABA).

It had also issued notices to 10 high courts on the plea. The lawyers' body had raised the issue of inadequate number of commercial courts and lack of adequate infrastructure.

On Thursday, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana noted that out of 10 high courts, Gauhati, Uttarakhand high courts have filed compliance reports.

It also noted that the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court will be filing its compliance report on pendency of commercial cases, the total number of such courts and other relevant details during the day. The Bench granted two weeks time to the Patna High Court to file the report.

"Unfortunately the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Telangana and Tripura are still unrepresented... The (Supreme Court) registry is directed issue notices to the Registrar General of High Courts," the CJI said and sought compliance reports in two weeks.

Earlier, the Bench had noted that the petitioner body had placed before it tabulated information showing the number of commercial cases pending as of January 31, 2025, along with details of the infrastructure provided for such courts.

It had said the information needed to be updated at least up to January 31, 2026, along with details of the infrastructure provided so far.

The Bench also asked the bar body to collect State-wise data on the growth of commercial litigation and prepare an estimate of the additional requirement of commercial courts in States. “Consideration of such data could enable the court to issue appropriate directions for the establishment of additional commercial courts,” it had said.

The Bench had directed its registry to provide the information in digital, tabulated form to all high courts and seek their responses before the next date of hearing.

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