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Search results: Arbitration and Conciliation Act
A losing battle?
Delays, the lack of predictability, and the escalating cost of dispute resolution in India have left investors and companies scrambling for a path to real remedies
Rebecca Abraham reports
India’s image as an investment destination got...
Courts to stop interfering in international awards
Holding that the “territoriality principle of the Arbitration Act, 1996, precludes Part I from being applicable to a foreign seated arbitration”, the Supreme Court recently overturned a 2002 judgment – Bhatia International v...
Power of Indian courts cut back
A five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India has restricted the powers that an Indian court can exercise in arbitrations that are conducted outside India.
In its judgment on 6 September in Bharat...
Agreement survives death of named arbitrator
In ACC Limited v Global Cements Ltd, the Supreme Court held that an “arbitration clause would have life so long as any question or dispute or difference between the parties exists unless the language...
Court rules on power to replace named arbitrator
In Bipromasz Bipron Trading SA v Bharat Electronics Limited, a single judge of the Supreme Court held that a court has the power to appoint an arbitrator other than the arbitrator named in a...
Parties can challenge delayed award
A division bench of Bombay High Court recently held that a delay by an arbitrator to pass an award is “a misconduct as contemplated under the act” and “the delayed award in question,...
Enforcing awards under bilateral investment treaties
Recent decisions and actions of Indian courts and governmental agencies have raised concerns among foreign investors in India. News reports suggest that certain foreign investors intend to step outside the recourse afforded by the...
Right to move court for arbitration clarified
In Dakshin Shelters Ltd v Geeta Johari, the Supreme Court ruled that a party can approach a court for appointment of an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, if the opposing party...
Evicting cyber-squatters
Pravin Anand of Anand and Anand calls for a rethink of the Indian rules governing domain name disputes
With Insure.com selling for US$16 million in 2009, the valuation of domain names has increased exponentially. All...
Balaji case clarifies role of foreign lawyers and firms
In the case of AK Balaji v Government of India, Madras High Court on 21 February disposed of a writ petition that sought to restrain foreign law firms and lawyers from “illegally” practising in...
Court rules on limitation for arbitration
Ruling in Barco Electronic Systems Pvt Ltd v Mrs Kiran Malik, Delhi High Court recently held that limitation for filing a petition under section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, is to be...
Securing Indian assets in foreign arbitrations
Foreign investors often choose arbitration as their preferred method of dispute resolution in relation to transactions with Indian entities. Whether the arbitral proceedings will be held in India (domestic arbitration) or outside India (foreign...
Public policy ruling may result in flood of cases
Under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the enforcement of a foreign arbitral award may be refused on the ground that it is contrary to the public policy of India. The Supreme Court in...
Reference to arbitration after final settlement
In the case of Union of India and Ors v Master Construction Co, the Supreme Court has held that in proceedings under section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, where a party...
Deals of the Year 2011
India Business Law Journal celebrates 50 of the most significant transactions and cases of 2011 and reveals the law firms that guided them to fruition
Nandini Lakshman reports from Mumbai
The global financial crisis may have...
Enforcement boost for foreign arbitral awards
Delhi High Court recently allowed an execution petition to enforce a foreign award against an Indian company that challenged the award on the grounds that it was contrary to public policy. In Penn Racquet...
No right of appeal where arbitration seat is abroad
Where parties have negotiated and agreed Singapore as the seat of an arbitration and further agreed that the arbitration proceedings are to be conducted in accordance with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Rules,...
Right of appeal not a ‘mere matter of procedure’
Ruling in Jet Airways (India) Limited v Sahara Airlines Limited, a division bench of Bombay High Court recently dismissed appeals by both the appellant and the respondent against an order passed by a single...
Evolution of arbitration in Dubai
The legal system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – a federation of seven emirates formed in 1971 – is still at a nascent stage and arbitration has only recently become a popular mechanism...
Avoiding, settling or winning disputes post-investment
Since the start of the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991, thousands of Indo-European cooperations have been concluded. Most of these have taken place in India, but over the past five years Indian...
IP demystified
Legal experts answer corporate counsel’s most pressing questions about intellectual property
Four corporate counsel from Infosys, Nokia, Mobiltrain Knowledge Services and Wockhardt share their greatest intellectual property concerns with India Business Law Journal. We asked...
The many faces of arbitration
As institutional arbitration takes root in India, how should companies select the best forum for resolving their disputes?
Rebecca Abraham investigates
In 2005 the Supreme Court of India’s constitutional bench handed down 17 judgments. Eight dealt...
Kachwaha takes on arbitration in KL
The Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) has formed an advisory board to help promote Malaysia as a destination for arbitration. The board was appointed on 15 August and consists of six members,...
Agreement determines arbitrator’s scope
Is a counterclaim that has not been urged before the court maintainable in an arbitration proceeding? Ruling in State of Goa v Praveen Enterprises, the Supreme Court held: “where the arbitration agreement provides for...
Bypassing the courts
As commercial disputes increasingly bypass India’s overcrowded courts, there is growing disquiet over the efficiency of the arbitration process
Rebecca Abraham investigates
There is little disputing the fact that only the very patient should knock on...
Arbitrator’s powers curbed by agreement
Does an arbitrator have the power to grant interest (on the amount due under a contract) despite the arbitration agreement between the parties prohibiting it?
Ruling in Union of India v Krafters Engineers & Leasing...
Arbitral awards: estimating the period of limitations
Does the period of limitation for making an application to set aside an arbitral award (under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996) begin from when a party receives a copy of...
Arbitral awards: getting the timing right
Does the period of limitation for making an application to set aside an arbitral award begin from the date the award is received by any means and from any source by the objector, or...
What has gone wrong with arbitration?
Sidharth Sharma of Tata argues that it has become a clone of the system it intended to replace
One of India’s greatest jurists, the late Nani Palkhivala, once said: “If I were appointed the dictator...
‘Public policy of India’ and the Arbitration Act
In Penn Raquet Sports v Mayor International Limited a single judge of Delhi High Court has considered the scope of “public policy of India” under section 48(2) and section 34 of the Arbitration and...
Applying part I of the Arbitration Act globally
International commercial arbitrations often involve cases where the law that governs the contract is defined by the parties, but the law that governs the arbitration and its conduct is left open. How are such...
A new brand of justice
The London Court of International Arbitration’s subsidiary in India is up and running. India Business Law Journal asks how it differs from its parent in the UK and its rivals in Asia
By Vandana Chatlani
With...
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...
Arbitration – a viable alternative
Dear Madam,
The lifetime of the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, has seen a deflection in the attitude of the Indian judiciary from general abstinence, to intervening in arbitration processes, even in cases which take place...
Arbitrator not equipped for malpractice case
The Supreme Court recently restricted the scope of arbitration in India by deciding that alleging fraud in a dispute will affect a party’s ability to require that it be referred to arbitration, under Part...
Indian courts strive for fast-track commercial litigation
In 1991 the floodgates opened for investments in India. This, coupled with a rapid increase in inbound foreign trade and commerce, saw a big rise in high stake commercial disputes. As a result there...
Solving the labour law puzzle
Companies that employ local or foreign staff in India must contend with complex – often overlapping – employment laws and regulations
Shalini Agarwal explains
Any foreign company looking at establishing a presence in India will inevitably be...
New bill aims to speed up dispute resolution
The Commercial Division of High Courts Bill, 2009, was recently passed by the lower house of the Indian parliament and has been referred to a select committee for further discussions by the upper house.
The...
Khaitan lawyer returns home
Gauri Rasgotra has returned to Khaitan & Co as a partner in its New Delhi office after a two-year break from the firm. Rasgotra originally joined Khaitan in 2004 and headed its litigation practice...
Government employees may be arbitrators
It is common for bidders who are keen to secure commercial contracts from the government, statutory bodies or public sector undertakings to agree to arbitration clauses that provide for employee-arbitrators. However, when disputes subsequently...
Lethargy and poor contracts hamper enforcement
I write with reference to your article on law enforcement in India in the July/August 2009 issue.
According to me, the law enforcement machinery in India has consistently improved over a period of time, contrary...
Make India investor friendly
Dear Madam,
This is with reference to the Cover story titled Law enforcement published in India Business Law Journal’s July/August 2009 edition. The cover story rightly expresses concern over the enforcement regime and its impact...
Singapore jurisdiction clause upheld
In Max India Limited v General Binding Corporation, Delhi High Court ruled that an agreement between parties to confer jurisdiction on a foreign court would amount to the exclusion of Indian courts and the...
Interest payments on arbitral awards may be curtailed
InSayeed Ahmed & Co v State of Uttar Pradesh the Supreme Court of India ruled that where parties to arbitration have agreed not to grant any interest on payments, an arbitrator does not have...
Arbitration agreements require careful drafting
In Nandan Biomatrix Ltd v D-1 Oils Ltd, decided on 11 Feburary, the Supreme Court restated the essential ingredients of a valid arbitration agreement.
Nandan and D-1 entered into a supply agreement on 10 August...
Choosing your battlefield
Location is a critical factor in the success of dispute resolution proceedings. A wise choice of venue bodes well for the speed, quality and enforceability of the ruling. Alfred Romann reports
In his masterpiece Bleak House,...
Civil suits do not always invalidate arbitration clauses
In Ministry of Sound International Ltd v Indus Renaissance Partners Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Delhi High Court addressed the question of whether the filing of a civil suit by a defendant amounted to an abandonment...
Arbitral award challenges must be filed on time
While filing a petition to set aside an arbitral award, it is imperative to adhere to the time limits set out in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. This was highlighted in a recent...
High court enforces foreign arbitral award
A judgment by Delhi High Court on 27 November 2008 in the case of Glencore Grain Rotterdam v Shivnath Rai Harnarain (India) sets out the important principles to be followed in the enforcement of...
Formal agreement not required for arbitration
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India recently interpreted the provisions of sections 7 and 11(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, read with article II para 2 of the New...
Jurisdiction of a court in arbitration proceedings
Arecent judgment by the Supreme Court of India has raised an interesting issue of jurisdiction based on the case of Shivnath Rai Harnarain (India) Ltd v M/s AG Abdul Rehman.
The parties had entered into...
Insistence on technicalities against the spirit of arbitration law
The Supreme Court of India recently ruled that courts should not insist on the inclusion of technicalities such as the affixing of stamps, seals and originals in an arbitration agreement, as it would defy...
Dispute resolution efforts should not be thwarted by technicalities
The Supreme Court of India in a recent decision in the matter of M/s Unissi (India) Pvt Ltd v Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research in Civil Appeal No. 6093, on 1...
Supreme Court clarifies limitation in Arbitration Act
The Supreme Court of India recently interpreted section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, read with section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963, to decide whether time spent before the wrong court...
High costs for careless drafting of clauses
For the benefit of foreign investors, we would like to draw attention to a recent judgment in the case of Venture Global Engineering v Satyam Computer Services Ltd & Anr by the Supreme Court...
Arbitration
In a landmark decision with significant implications for international commercial arbitration, the Supreme Court of India in TDM Infrastructure Pvt Ltd v UE Development Indian Pvt Ltd & Ors, decided on 14 May, while...
Enforcing arbitration awards in India
The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, (AC Act) provides a legal framework for the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards given in countries that are signatories to either the 1927 Convention on the Execution of...
Supreme Court to hear Novartis’ plea
The Supreme Court is expected to rule in April on an appeal by Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics for arbitration in a dispute with Aventis Pharma, a subsidiary of French company Sanofi Aventis, over the...
Enforcing foreign awards should be an easier task
An award may be recognized without being enforced but if it is enforced, it is necessarily recognized. This statement by the Supreme Court in 1994 in the case of Brace Transport Corporation of Monrovia...
Legislative and regulatory update – February 2008
Real estate
The State of Maharashtra has repealed its Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, which limited landholdings by a single person to 0.5 hectares in Mumbai and one to two hectares in other...
Arbitral awards and ‘public policy’
In the field of private international law, courts generally refuse to apply a rule of foreign law or recognize a foreign judgment or a foreign arbitral award if it goes against the accepted public...
Rules of engagement
India’s arbitration legislation has moved forward in leaps and bounds but progress may be threatened by courts’ unwillingness to cede their influence Ashok Sharma explains.
Those who use arbitration as a means of resolving disputes...
Conciliation an effective tool for settling disputes
Conciliation is fast gaining popularity as a mode of dispute resolution in India with courts increasingly encouraging parties to conciliate in civil disputes before resorting to litigation.
Conciliation is the process by which a conciliator,...
A cure for legal headaches
India Business Law Journal diagnosed the top 10 legal problems facing corporate counsel and challenged Indian lawyers to prescribe remedies Alfred Romann reports
Doing business in India can be daunting. Not only is the market...
Enforcing foreign arbitral awards
The Indian Law regarding enforcement of foreign arbitration awards is contained in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (AC Act), 1996, which incorporates provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1927 and the New York Convention...