Bombay High Court Upholds UPL Insurance Award, Holds Dispute Is Of 'Quantum' Not 'Liability'

On 22 April, the Bombay High Court held that it would not interfere under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 where an arbitral tribunal adopts a plausible view that a dispute concerns “quantum” rather than “liability”, and upholds an arbitral award arising from an insurance claim under an Industrial All Risk Policy. Justice Sandeep V. Marne dismissed the petition filed by United India Insurance Company Ltd and upheld the arbitral award in favour of UPL Ltd. He observed: ...

No Immediate Challenge To Arbitrator's Rejection Of Jurisdiction Plea; Must Wait For Final Award: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has recently held that when a claim is challenged as time-barred to question an arbitrator's jurisdiction, and the arbitrator rejects that objection, the party cannot challenge it midway and must wait until the final award. A Division Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran observed that "In that situation, there is no option for the party aggrieved by the decision of the arbitrator upon the application filed under Section 16 except to wait till the conclusion of...

OYO Moves Supreme Court Against Gujarat HC Ruling On Arbitral Award Execution In Dispute with Meridian Hotels

OYO Hotels and Homes Pvt Ltd has approached the Supreme Court challenging a Gujarat High Court ruling that declined to interfere with execution proceedings enforcing an arbitral award in favour of Meridian Hotels Pvt Ltd in a dispute arising out of a hotel management agreement. The matter is likely to be heard on May 11 by a bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe. The ruling under challenge was delivered on February 19, 2026. The dispute stems from a 2018 Management Services...

Limitation No Ground To Refuse Arbitration Reference Unless Claim Is Clearly Time- Barred: J&K&L High Court

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has reiterated that a plea of limitation cannot by itself block the appointment of an arbitrator unless the claim is clearly time-barred, and that such questions should ordinarily be left to the arbitral tribunal. A bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar relying on earlier precedents held,“at the time of considering a petition under Section 11(6) of the Act, unless it is shown that the claim is ex facie time barred or hopelessly time barred, the Court...

Madras High Court Sets Aside Rental Loss In Arbitral Award Against VLCC In Lease Dispute

The Madras High Court has partly allowed an appeal filed by VLCC Health Care Limited, setting aside the rental loss component of an arbitral award while upholding damages and arrears of rent against the company.The court held that once possession of the premises had been handed over, a claim for rental loss for the subsequent period was unsustainable. A Division Bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi was dealing with an appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Arbitral Award In Samsung–PTC Dispute Over Unilateral Arbitrator Appointment

The Delhi High Court has recently set aside a 2018 arbitral award arising out of disputes between PTC Techno Pvt. Ltd. and Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd., holding that the appointment of the arbitrator by an official of Samsung was legally impermissible. A Single Bench of Justice Avneesh Jhingan held that the sole arbitrator, Justice Sunil Ambwani (Retd.), had been appointed by the Vice President of the respondent company, which was contrary to Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and...

Delhi High Court Upholds Award For HCL Technologies, Rejects Time Extension From Earlier Proceedings

The Delhi High Court on 23 April upheld an arbitral award in favour of HCL Technologies Ltd., holding that Sahaj Bharti Travels' claim of over Rs. 3.27 crore towards unpaid Minimum Running Guarantee dues under an employee transport agreement was time-barred. Justice Subramonium Prasad upheld the Tribunal's refusal to exclude the nearly three-year period (August 2019 to May 2022) spent before the NCLT and NCLAT while computing limitation, as the proceedings were dismissed on merits and not for...

Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Denying Distributor's Loss Of Profit Claim Against Bausch & Lomb

The Delhi High Court has recently upheld an arbitral award passed in favour of Bausch & Lomb India Pvt. Ltd., a leading eye-care products manufacturer. It rejected claims of OSA Vendita Pvt. Ltd., its non-exclusive distributor in Kolkata, for loss of profits. The court found that the distributorship agreement for the supply of eye-care products did not stipulate any assured or fixed sales commitment. In the absence of such a stipulation, the distributor could not recover losses arising...

Supreme Court Refuses To Interfere With ₹66.31 Lakh Award In Favour Of Aakash In Coaching Franchise Dispute

The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday dismissed a plea by Paramount Learning Solutions in a franchise dispute involving an Aakash Educational Services Ltd. coaching centre. It declined to interfere with the Delhi High Court's judgment of August 7, 2025, which had upheld an arbitral award in favour of Aakash. A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe declined to interfere with the High Court's ruling. The High Court had affirmed an arbitral award relating to the operation of an Aakash...

Being A Government Authority No Ground To Avoid Deposit For Stay Of Arbitral Award: Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court has recently observed that a government authority cannot seek exemption from depositing an arbitral award amount merely on the ground of its status while seeking a stay. Justice B.P. Routray upheld a Commercial Court order directing the Chief Engineer (Roads-1), Government of Odisha, to deposit the entire award of about Rs. 26.97 crore in a dispute with NKC Projects Pvt. Ltd. The court held, "It cannot be contended on the part of the Petitioner that he being a Government...

Society Election Disputes Involve Collective Rights, Not Arbitrable: Delhi High Court

Holding that disputes arising out of a society's election process are inherently non-arbitrable, the Delhi High Court refused to appoint an arbitrator and declined interim relief to stay the upcoming elections of the Akhil Bhartiya Agrawal Sammelan. “An election of a society comprising approximately 1,20,000 members involves collective rights. A challenge to the election process, the appointment of a Chief Election Officer, or the validity of the voter list is not a private dispute between two...

Supreme Court Stays Arbitration In ₹36.53 Crore AP E-Challan Dispute Involving Digi Yatra Developer

The Supreme Court recently stayed further arbitration proceedings in a Rs. 36.53 crore dispute between the Andhra Pradesh government and Dataevolve Solutions Pvt. Ltd., the developer of the Digi Yatra app, over settlement of accounts under an e-challan software contract. A Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi issued notice on the State's special leave petition challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order appointing a...