Govt set to bring amendments to arbitration bill in Lok Sabha

Government is set to bring official amendments to the Arbitration Act (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha to remove ambiguity on whether it will apply to ongoing arbitration cases.
Though no formal decision has been taken on as to whether the law will apply on ongoing arbitration cases, highly-placed sources in the ministry said it is unlikely to effect ongoing cases and will only apply only on new cases.
The amendment assumes significance as experts in the field and stakeholders had sought clarification in this regard as an ordinance to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is already in force since October 23.

The Law Ministry is likely to send the file to the Prime Minister for his approval shortly and ex post facto approval of the Union Cabinet will be sought later, the sources said.
The bill, pending in the Lok Sabha, seeks to replace the ordinance.
Moved by Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda in the lower house on December 3, the bill is aimed at amending a law on arbitration for speedy settlement of high value business disputes.

For speedy settlement of commercial disputes, the Cabinet had in August cleared the bill to amend the Arbitration Act to fix a timeline for arbitrators to resolve cases. The bill was not introduced in Parliament.

Under the proposed amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, an arbitrator will have to settle a case within 18 months.
However, after the completion of 12 months, certain restrictions will be put in place to ensure that the arbitration case does not linger on.
The Cabinet had in December last year given a nod to an ordinance to amend the Arbitration Act but it was never sent to the President for approval.
The amendments to the law come amid keenness of the government to attract the greater foreign investment. Certain foreign companies were said to be hesitant to do business in India because of the long-drawn litigations.

The Prime Minister has been stressing on steps to promote ease of doing business in India.