'Transformation of country into a $10 trillion economy can't be achieved through capital or policy alone': CJI Surya Kant

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday called for an overhaul of legal architecture to meet the demands of an evolving economy, saying that the country’s transformation into a $10 trillion economy cannot be achieved through capital or policy alone and that the quality of the legal system would be a crucial factor.

The CJI underscored the need for predictability, specialisation, and a culture of good faith in commercial law to help the country achieve this goal, as it will require capital that involves commitments that unfold over time and for which investor confidence is a must.

He asserted that mechanisms like mediation would do more for India’s economic competitiveness than many reforms that attract greater attention. The CJI also stressed on the use of technology and adapting legal education to respond to the needs of the changing economy.

Speaking at the ‘Rule of Law Convention 2026’ on the theme ‘Legal Reform Roadmap to a $10 Trillion Bharat’, organised by the Bar Association of India, the CJI said the topic was not merely an aspiration for the country but a serious consideration and dealt with not a “marginal” query but one of the most important questions.

“I am confident that we will surely rise to the occasion. A $10 trillion mark will not be built by capital or policy alone. It will be built in no small part by the quality of the legal system that upholds the rule of law and the promises on which all of that depends. Our country never lacked the legal talent to build that system. And what this convention affirms is that it does not lack the will as well,” said CJI Surya Kant.

He said the generation that shapes India’s commercial jurisprudence for a $10 trillion economy will be remembered the same way as the generation that shaped its constitutional jurisprudence.

He said that to reach the mark, the country needed to attract capital of a very different kind.

“This is capital that is patient, long-term and dependent on institutional reliability; whether it is a pension fund investment in infrastructure, a technology company transferring proprietary know-how, or a global manufacturer establishing an integrated supply chain, these are not short-term bets, they are commitments that unfold over time,” the CJI said.

He said that investors, before committing, needed to know whether the legal system governing that investment would remain honest, consistent and predictable over the years of their commitment.

“At its core, the question is one of trust; It is not merely about enforcement at the stage of breach of a contract, but about the continued integrity of obligations for performance. Such confidence among the investors enables commerce and commercial relationships to create the value they are intended to generate,” the CJI said.

Underlining the changing nature of commercial disputes over the last two decades, he said, from being relatively straightforward, centred on non-payments, breach of supply agreements and clear questions of liability, they have now emerged from relationships of far greater complexity and duration.

“And the reason for this shift is not merely procedural. It is fundamentally economic in origin. As commerce grows in scale and ambition, it moves away from isolated transactions toward continuing relationships,” the CJI said.

He said that the present commercial laws had served the country reasonably well, but the legitimacy of law was in its ability to remain responsive to the society it served.

“There is no need to discard the existing one. It is to enable the existing framework to grow so that it protects not just the moment of agreement, but the full life of the relationship. Our courts have already paved the way in their approach to public contracts and legitimate expectations," he said

“They have demonstrated that the law can look beyond breach and remedy and ask what fairness demands across the life of a relationship. That instinct is already present in our public law. It is now time to carry it into the commercial spheres as well,” Kamt added.

Regarding the question of a legal ecosystem that helped to create the kind of investor confidence in sync with long-horizon commerce, he said there were three imperatives: predictability, where similar situations, despite changes in governments or events, were governed with similar principles and the development of an ethos of dispute prevention through fostering a culture of good faith in contract performance.

“Mechanisms like mediation can deliver on their full promise if we foster this culture (of dispute prevention) and guard it jealously. So litigation becomes the last resort rather than the first response. That shift alone would do more for India’s economic competitiveness than many reforms that attract greater attention,” the CJI said.