Arbitration

Arbitration users worry over poor-quality awards and prolonged litigation; some propose allowing courts to modify awards, but this raises concerns over finality and judicial overreach

Taking note of the Arbitration and Conciliation Bill, 2024, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, remarked that it fails to address a long-standing legislative vacuum

The court realised that 212 out of 451 paragraphs of the award were taken directly from two earlier arbitration decisions where former CJI Justice Misra had also presided

The final outcome of all arbitral cases have gone in favour of the government; ironically, the finance ministry itself advised departments to exercise caution when challenging awards for larger cases

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said the provision of special leave petition was supposed to be a "narrow slit" but is now hurting the arbitral process due to its wide use. He also stressed on the need to have domain experts in arbitration cases, saying experts in varied areas can be utilised in handling complex matters involving commercial disputes. Addressing a conference on arbitration here, Dhankhar drew the attention towards the use of Article 136 and its impact on the arbitral process. "... Article 136 intervention was supposed to be a narrow-slit. The wall has been demolished with anything and everything under the sun, including what a magistrate has to do, what a session judge has to do, what a district judge has to do, what a high court judge has to do," he said. Article 136 of the Constitution allows the Supreme Court to grant "special leave" to appeal from any judgment or order. It is called as a special leave petition (SLP). Dhankhar said the "wall demolit

Nagar Palika had deposited the amount with the court the last month. Earlier, the court had issued a warrant for attachment of Bikaner House in New Delhi

Arbitration is an adversarial process. It relies on the parties to present facts and evidence before the arbitral tribunal for a decision

Ruling likely to bring sanctity to the finality of arbitration awards

Zee Entertainment and its subsidiary Margo Networks have lost their claims in the arbitration against Navratna PSU RailTel Corporation of India. An arbitration tribunal -- formed over the dispute over the termination of the contract for content-on-demand (COD) by the PSU -- rejected the claim of Margo Networks. "This is to inform you that the Arbitral Tribunal vide its Arbitral Award has rejected the said claims filed by the Company and Margo against Railtel," according to a regulatory filing from Zee Entertainment. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and its subsidiary had initiated arbitration proceedings, opposing "wrongful termination of the Content on Demand Agreement" by Railtel, and claimed the amounts wrongfully forfeited by the public sector undertaking. Further, the Arbitral Tribunal has also rejected the counterclaims made by Railtel, it added. "The company is evaluating the option of filing an application/appeal before the appropriate Court for setting aside of th

Seeking to provide "further boost" to institutional arbitration and reduce court intervention in such cases, the government has come out with a draft bill seeking views on the proposed amendments. The Department of Legal Affairs in the law ministry has invited comments on the draft Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2024, saying "the aim and purpose is to provide further boost to institutional arbitration, reduce court intervention in arbitrations and ensuring timely conclusion of arbitration proceedings". The draft bill comes months after an expert committee headed by former law secretary and former Lok Sabha secretary general T K Vishwanathan submitted its report on proposed reforms in the arbitration sector to the law ministry. The draft bill proposes the concept of 'emergency arbitration'. The proposed amendment says arbitral institutions may, for the purpose of grant of interim measures, provide for appointment of "emergency arbitrator" prior to the constitution of

India must reform its judicial system to enable faster dispute resolutions. This will help improve overall investor confidence and ease of doing business

Investment pact to increase investor confidence: Goyal

The arbitration award is worth approximately Rs 780 crore, including accrued interest, and bank guarantees of Rs 600 crore will also be released

PVR INOX has filed a claim of approximately Rs 4.5 crore against Ansal Plaza Mall in Greater Noida, seeking arbitration to address the issue

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI will be setting up a Section 8 company for mediation and arbitration activities, its President Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal said on Friday. Section 8 companies are set for not-for-profit activities and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has so far set up five such companies. At the inaugural session of 'RESOLVE-2024: An International Convention on Insolvency Resolution & Valuation' in the national capital, he said the institute is in the process of setting up a Section 8 company, under the directives of Law Ministry, especially for mediation and arbitration. According to him, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has asked the institute to help in developing valuation standards for the asset class 'Land & Building' and 'Plant & Machinery' on the lines of the valuation standards prepared by it for the asset class 'Securities or Financial Assets'. The Insolvency & Valuation Standards Board of ICAI along ...

Sembcorp's India unit has filed a suit in a Bengaluru court to stop Siemens Gamesa from selling country business before settling an arbitration arising from alleged default in executing a contract. In its filing before the Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge at Bengaluru, Sembcorp sought injunction over sale of the India assets of Siemens Gamesa, including its shareholding. The court issued notices to Siemens Gamesa, court documents showed. Sembcorp's India arm has filed a suit against Siemens Gamesa and its parent entity, Siemens Energy AG. Siemens Energy AG has reportedly put its India subsidiary Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy's entire India manufacturing, maintenance and services business in renewables up for sale. This is effectively seen as a country exit for Siemens Gamesa. Considering these material events and information, which lead to reasonable apprehension regarding the continued operation of the Siemens Gamesa as a going concern, Sembcorp filed an injunction petit

A perusal of the judgment in DMRC vs DAMEPL would show that the SC has interpreted the terms of the contract and that too, in its curative jurisdiction

As far as the use of technology in the arbitration and mediation system is concerned, he said they have consciously incorporated the use of online mediation

Max Healthcare accused Touch Healthcare of favouring Blackstone's offer over a prior agreement for Care Hospitals' sale

An expert committee headed by former law secretary T K Vishwanathan has submitted its report on reforms in the arbitration sector to the law ministry, sources said on Wednesday. The panel, which also had representatives of the law ministry as well as domain experts, has recommended an amendment to the Arbitration law to confer on the court the power to set aside or vary the arbitration award, the sources said. Industry representatives have dubbed the proposed changes in the law as a setback for arbitration reforms in the country. They said that one of the major issues plaguing arbitrations especially in a jurisdiction such as India is with regard to the fees charged by arbitrators being on the higher side. The reforms propose deletion of the Fourth schedule dealing with fee schedule. The panel has also set no limits on number of arbitrations an arbitrator can take, leading to delay in award, they said. The also noted that no upper age limit has been prescribed for accepting ...