Laying emphasis on several long-term legal reforms begun by the NDA government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Centre wanted to create a “vibrant arbitration mechanism” as investors n
Laying emphasis on several long-term legal reforms begun by the NDA government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Centre wanted to create a “vibrant arbitration mechanism” as investors need assurance that the rules of the game would not be changed arbitrarily and that commercial disputes can be resolved efficiently.
Mindful of bettering the nation’s “ease of doing business” environment, Mr Modi said an enabling alternative dispute resolution ecosystem was a national priority as it would not only add to investors’ comfort level but also ease the burden on the courts. He added that there was a need to promote India globally as an arbitration hub.
“Businesses seek assurance of the prevalence of the rule of law in the Indian market. They need to be assured that the rules of the game will not change overnight, in an arbitrary fashion. And that commercial disputes will be resolved efficiently. A robust legal framework backed by a vibrant arbitration culture is essential,” he said.
Addressing the valedictory function of the National Initiative towards Strengthening Arbitration and Enforcement in India, Mr Modi said the government had initiated far-reaching legal reforms towards this end. “Over a thousand archaic laws have been scrapped. We have enacted a comprehensive Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, implemented the National Company Law Tribunals, established a statutory Monetary Policy Committee and effected a merger of the commodities and securities market,” he told the gathering, which included Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur and members of the judiciary from several countries.
The PM said the creation of a vibrant ecosystem for institutional arbitration was one of the foremost priorities of his government. Recently, major amendments were made to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, he noted, making the arbitration process easy, timely and hassle-free. He said legal reforms could deliver desired results only when there was an effective and efficient dispute resolution mechanism.
“The independence of the judiciary is a basic feature of the Indian Constitution. Citizens as well as businesses repose immense faith in the integrity of the judicial process. Our government has taken various initiatives to improve the judicial infrastructure and administration,” he noted. The PM said that the government was working on a strategy for convergence of existing tribunals. This would transform the existing complicated tribunal system into a simpler structure, he added.
