ARBITRATION
Delhi High Court Blocks ₹213 Crore Release To British Marine Over Unstamped Arbitral Award Against SAIL
The Delhi High Court has refused to release the remaining ₹213.24 crore deposited by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in enforcement proceedings initiated by British Marine PLC. The court held that the arbitral award could not be executed while it remained unstamped and the original award was not available before it.Justice Vinod Kumar observed:“Now the situation is that the original Award is not available before this Court. Though an arbitral Award is a chargeable instrument, as evident...
LiveLawBiz Arbitration Cases Monthly Digest: September 2026
Supreme CourtSupreme Court Appoints Justice S.C. Gupte Arbitrator In JioStar-Green Bean Dispute Over IPL Media Rights In BangladeshCase Title : JIOSTAR INDIA PVT LTD VERSUS GREEN BEAN SPORTS MARKETINCase Number : ARBITRATION PETITION NO. 16 OF 2026Citation : 2026 LLBiz SC 320The Supreme Court has appointed former Bombay High Court judge Justice S.C. Gupte as the Sole Arbitrator to resolve a dispute between JioStar India Pvt Ltd and Green Bean Sports Marketing.The dispute arises from...
Changing Rent Claim To Mesne Profits Without Changing Quantum Not Patent Illegality: Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court on 24 September held that recasting an arbitral claim from “rent” as “mesne profits” does not amount to patent illegality warranting interference with an award when the monetary liability remains unchanged. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray dismissed Indus Towers' challenge to an arbitral award directing it to pay the landowners Rs. 25,800 per month, with contractual escalation, until it handed over vacant possession, describing...
Party Choosing Pre-Suit Mediation Must End It Before Invoking Arbitration: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court on 28 September held that a party cannot invoke the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 while pre-institution mediation proceedings it had voluntarily initiated under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 remain pending. Justice K. Kumaresh Babu dismissed Grand Blue Projects Pvt Ltd's application under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act, seeking to restrain True Value Home India Pvt Ltd and TVH Estates Chennai Pvt Ltd from dealing with the disputed property. The...
Arbitrator's Mandate Not Automatically Terminated By Expiry Of Indicative Timeline: Delhi High Court
On 30 September, the Delhi High Court held that an arbitrator's mandate does not end merely because an indicative time period fixed by the Court for completing proceedings has expired, unless the direction imposed a mandatory deadline. A Division Bench comprising Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Shail Jain dismissed M.K. Construction's appeal against an arbitral award in its residential construction dispute with Maj. Gen. Hoshiar Singh (Retd). It observed: “The direction of this Court did not...
Word 'Arbitration' In Brief Clause Can Be Sufficient To Show Intention To Arbitrate: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that a brief arbitration clause can constitute a valid and binding arbitration agreement even when it does not use words such as “shall” or “will” to expressly require disputes to be referred to arbitration.Justice Amit Borkar observed, “The Court is not adding the word 'shall' to the contract as a new term. The Court is trying to understand the words already written in the Purchase Order in their ordinary commercial setting. The word 'Arbitration', along with the...
Supreme Court Appoints Justice S.C. Gupte Arbitrator In JioStar-Green Bean Dispute Over IPL Media Rights In Bangladesh
The Supreme Court has appointed former Bombay High Court judge Justice S.C. Gupte as the Sole Arbitrator to resolve a dispute between JioStar India Pvt Ltd and Green Bean Sports Marketing. The dispute arises from an agreement under which JioStar granted Green Bean IPL media rights for the 2023-2027 seasons exclusively in Bangladesh.A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana allowed the petition and appointed Justice S.C. Gupte, former Judge of the Bombay...
2015 Amendment To Arbitration Act Cannot Invalidate Pre-Amendment Arbitrator Appointment: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that the statutory ineligibility introduced for arbitrators by the 2015 amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, cannot be retrospectively applied to invalidate an appointment made before the amendment came into force.A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Bharat Parashar upheld the appointment of a serving Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) employee as sole arbitrator.The arbitration was invoked on June 3, 2014 and the arbitrator was...
Acquiring Property Interest Alone Does Not Bind Transferee To Arbitration Clause: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court on 7 September held that acquiring an interest in property covered by a Development Agreement, by itself, does not make a transferee a party to the arbitration agreement contained in the Development Agreement. Justice Amit Borakar added that a transferee can become bound by the arbitration clause only where material shows assignment, incorporation, acceptance or unequivocal adoption of the underlying agreement, and appointed a sole arbitrator for disputes between the...
Arbitral Tribunal Cannot Permit PBG Appropriation Contrary To Contractual Terms: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court on 31 August held that an arbitral tribunal cannot permit appropriation of Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) proceeds contrary to the contractual terms governing the parties. Justice Avneesh Jhingan was hearing a petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 filed by ISGEC Heavy Engineering Limited challenging an arbitral award arising from its dispute with Prakash Industries Limited. The Bench observed: “The tribunal permitting appropriation of...
Madras HC Refuses Arbitrator Appointment Over Forged Clause, Says Arbitration Is 'Child Of Consent'
The Madras High Court on 25 September refused to appoint an arbitrator in an employment dispute between former Purchase Manager Chandramouli V. and the American International School Chennai, holding that a challenge to the genuineness of the document containing the arbitration clause goes to the root of whether an Arbitral Tribunal can be constituted. Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari observed that arbitration, being the “child of consent,” cannot proceed where the very document...
Delhi High Court Declines 'Eleventh Hour' Auditor Appointment In Hamdard Tax Row, Allows Arbitration
On 29 September, the Delhi High Court refused to appoint an independent statutory auditor in a dispute concerning the renewal of Hamdard Laboratories India's tax-exempt registration and instead permitted Hammad Ahmed to seek appropriate directions from the arbitral tribunal. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela found that the objections to Form 10AB were intertwined with a property segregation dispute already pending before the arbitral tribunal, and stated that appointing an independent auditor at the...