Section 17 Commercial Courts Act: Collection and disclosure of data by Commercial Courts

Section 17 of Commercial Courts Act, 2015: Collection and disclosure of data by Commercial Courts

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation / Timeline Monetary Value

(1) The Commercial Court, Commercial Division and the Commercial Appellate Division shall maintain statistical data regarding the number of suits, applications, appeals or writ petitions filed, disposed of and pending before them, and the manner of disposal of such suits, applications, appeals or writ petitions.

(2) The statistical data shall be published monthly on the official website of the concerned Commercial Court or the High Court, as the case may be.

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Commercial Court Sec 2 Commercial Division Sec 2

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 17

Section 17 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 mandates the collection, compilation, and public disclosure of statistical data regarding commercial cases by Commercial Courts and Commercial Divisions.

Monthly Data Compilation: Commercial Courts and Commercial Divisions shall maintain monthly records of cases filed, disposed of, and pending.
Publication on High Court Websites: Every High Court shall publish such statistical data monthly on its official website.
Transparency & Performance Benchmarking: Designed to ensure institutional accountability, measure clearance rates, and monitor compliance with the Act's statutory timelines.
Facilitating World Bank EoDB Audits: Provides empirical transparency for ease of doing business and judicial efficiency assessments.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Supreme Court E-Committee Practice Directions, 2021: The Supreme Court highlighted that automated case information under provisions like Section 17 is crucial for algorithmic case tracking and institutional transparency.
All India Judges Association v. Union of India, (2002) 4 SCC 247: Affirmed the constitutional necessity of tracking judicial output and workload allocation.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Litigants and advocates can leverage published Section 17 dashboard statistics to assess average disposal periods before specific commercial benches when evaluating settlement or arbitration options.

Section 17: Collection and disclosure of data by Commercial Courts

Section 17 of Commercial Courts Act, 2015: Collection and disclosure of data by Commercial Courts

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 17