New Delhi, A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice has stated that the Supreme Court and High Courts should charge corporate commercial bodies a higher fee for settling their disputes and give a fee-waiver to poor and illiterate litigants.

While pressing for a differential court fee system, the Committee stated, "The Committee draws the attention of the Executive and the Judiciary to arrive at a decision regarding differential court fees for the commercial or corporate or company matters immediately and amend the Supreme Court Rules, High Court Rules and other court fees Acts accordingly."

In a report to the Parliament, the Committee''s chairman E M S Natchiappan, criticised the preference that corporate bodies get in courts while a common litigant waits for justice for years.

"Early hearing and disposals of cases by the courts in corporate cases only delay the cases of ordinary citizens as they take valuable court time within minimum court fees, therefore, there is a strong case for a differential court fee for the corporate sector," said Natchiappan.

He further said that the judicial system is already clogged by a huge number of cases and in such a scenario, preference to corporate cases that too on minimum court fees may amount to taking away the time meant for the common litigant.

Natchiappan said that corporate bodies can get their disputes resolved through the methods of arbitration and conciliation. However, in most cases arbitration involves a higher cost. So the corporate bodies make use of the judicial infrastructure.

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