Enforcing foreign arbitral awards in India

By becoming a signatory to the Geneva Convention, 1924, and the New York Convention, 1958, on the enforcement of arbitral awards, India signalled its intent to adopt a pro-arbitration and pro-enforcement of arbitral awards approach. This was consistent with India’s recognition and enforcement of judgments rendered by foreign courts reflected in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC).

This article discusses the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, (Arbitration Act) which deals with the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in India. It also includes suggestions for negotiating arbitration agreements which may assist parties seeking to enforce foreign awards against an entity with assets in India. When negotiating an arbitration agreement relevant considerations include whether an Indian court will enforce a foreign award, the kinds of awards that may not be enforced by an Indian court and the time that such enforcement may take.

The Arbitration Act provides that in order to be enforced in India an award should have been rendered in a country that is a reciprocating territory to which the New York or Geneva Convention applies. Execution of a foreign award is a two-step process undertaken in a single proceeding. First, the executing court determines if the award is enforceable under Indian law and thereafter it executes the award.

Niti Dixit is a partner and Palash Gupta is an associate at S&R Associates, a New Delhi-based law firm.