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For the first time in the country, judges will receive green, orange, and red indicators depending on the number of adjournments given in a case. Initially, this special feature is to be enabled in dedicated ‘commercial courts’ as part of “ease of doing business” reforms in the Justice delivery system.

To ensure speedy and fair disposal of ‘commercial disputes’, the Department of Justice (DoJ) in collaboration with the eCommittee of the Supreme Court has introduced this special feature in the software that runs the case management system of courts across India.

Beginning with commercial courts, e-Committee has ensured compliance with the three adjournment Rule by creating this facility which is provided in the "daily proceedings screen" to alert judges about listing of the case.

According to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, a maximum of three adjournments can be given during the hearing of a suit.

This present mechanism will enable the disposal of commercial disputes in a fair, time-bound manner. This feature will track judges and automatically generate an alert when the “three-adjournment rule” is breached.

Along with the colored indicator, the number of times the case is listed on the same stage along with period/time since when the case is listed on the same stage is also shown. The alert may assist the Judges to decide adjourning the case further on the same stage or to list for next stage.

If the case is listed on same stage on the next date, the indicator will depict three different colors, namely, Green which will indicate that the case is listed on the same stage for less than 3 times, Orange which will indicate that the case is listed on the same stage between 3 to 6 times and Red if the case is listed on the same stage for more than 6 times.

It is the present Government’s endeavor to make India an investor-friendly destination. The measure is taken with an intention to improve India’s standing in the World Bank’s “ease of doing business” rankings.

To ease the doing of business in the country, the Contract Enforcement Regime earlier suffered from the handicap of lack of Case Management facility in the court process. During this government’s period, Case Management Hearing or Pre-trial Conference, along with other special features, was institutionalized by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

The government is prioritising all judicial reforms through the commercial courts, including e-filing, e-pay and time-bound disposal etc, to enable the country to climb in World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking,