ARBITRATION
Direction To Deposit Proceeds In Escrow Warranted Only In Limited Circumstances: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has recently held that a direction to deposit proceeds in an escrow account cannot be issued as a matter of routine in arbitration dispute. The court observed that such an arrangement is ordinarily warranted only where the underlying contract providing for escrow is subsisting or where there is material to show that the party receiving the money is likely to divert it and lacks sufficient assets to satisfy the award if it goes against it. A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra...
Supreme Court Directs NHAI To Deposit 50% of ₹1,019 Crore Award In Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway Dispute
The Supreme Court has recently modified a Delhi High Court order that had directed the National Highways Authority of India to deposit the entire arbitral award of over Rs. 1,019 crore in its dispute with Vadodara Mumbai Expressway PKG-08 Pvt. Ltd., and instead ordered it to deposit 50% of the total amount referred to in its order. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan was hearing special leave petitions arising out of the High Court's November 19, 2025 order passed in...
Conciliation Gets Award Status Under Arbitration Act Unless Expressly Excluded by Parties: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has recently restored a civil suit challenging a family partition deed and an alleged conciliation award, observing that any conciliation conducted in accordance with Part III of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 would attain the status and effect of an award unless the parties have expressly agreed to exclude its application. “On a reading of Section 61, any conciliation between two parties brought about by following the procedure in Part III of the Act of 1996 would...
Delhi High Court Dismisses Cross-Petitions In FHEL-GAPL Arbitration, Confirms Damages & Rental Awards
The Delhi High Court on 11 February upheld an arbitral award directing Fresh and Healthy Enterprises Ltd (FHEL) to pay over Rs. 80 lakh in damages to Global AgriSystem Pvt Ltd (GAPL) for failure to maintain agreed storage conditions, while also confirming FHEL's entitlement to over Rs. 87 lakh towards rental and handling charges. A Single Bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh dismissed cross-petitions filed by both companies, while reiterated that courts exercising jurisdiction under Section 34 of...
Housing Society Bound By Arbitration Clause In Individual Sale Agreements: Bombay High Court
On 10 February, the Bombay High Court held that a co-operative housing society, although a distinct legal entity, is a “veritable party” to the agreements signed by its individual members and is therefore bound by the arbitration clauses embedded within them. The Single Bench of Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan, emphasised that when a society is formed specifically to represent the collective interests of homebuyers, it inherits the obligations of arbitration contained in the individual sale...
Supreme Court Appoints Former SC Judge Abhay Oka As Mediator In IMAX–E-City Arbitration Enforcement Dispute
The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday appointed former apex court judge Justice Abhay S. Oka as mediator to explore the possibility of settlement between IMAX Corporation and the E-City Group in their dispute concerning enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.The court was hearing the matter arising out of the Bombay High Court's December 2025 judgment reviving enforcement proceedings in favour of IMAX.A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan was further informed that the hearing...
Disputes From Residential Real-Estate Development Can Be Commercial If Profit Oriented: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has recently observed that a real estate development agreement can qualify as a commercial dispute even if the project is residential in nature and even if both parties are not engaged in the business.Justice Shampa Sarkar said the agreement, when read as a whole, showed that the property was meant to be commercially exploited. “The cumulative effect of the agreement was that the parties jointly agreed to put the property to commercial use, thereby earning from the...
Calcutta High Court Refers Reliance Entities' Telecom Tower Lease Dispute To Arbitration, Leaves Objections Open
The Calcutta High Court has referred a telecom tower lease dispute to arbitration. It declined to decide, at the referral stage, whether non-signatory Reliance group entities were bound by the arbitration clause or whether past dues stood extinguished under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Justice Shampa Sarkar held that such objections raise triable jurisdictional issues. These must be decided by the arbitral tribunal. The court reiterated that its role under Section 11 of the...
Executing Court Cannot Impose Onerous Conditions For Release Of Arbitral Award Without Stay: Punjab & Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside a condition imposed by an executing court that required an award-holder to furnish a bank guarantee to obtain release of an arbitral award amount. The court held that no such condition can be imposed by the executing court in the absence of any interim stay. A bench of Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri held that once objections to an arbitral award are dismissed and no interim order is granted in appeal, the executing court is bound to execute the...
No Appeal Lies Against Conditional Stay Of Arbitral Award: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has recently held that an appeal does not lie against an order granting conditional stay of an arbitral award, observing that such orders fall outside the narrow appellate framework prescribed under arbitration Act. Section 36(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, allows a party that has challenged an arbitral award in court to seek a stay on the enforcement of that award. A Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi dismissed...
High Courts Cannot Nullify Prior Arbitral Proceedings While Substituting Arbitrator: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of India has recently observed hat while appointing a substitute arbitrator under Section 15(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, High Courts cannot invalidate prior arbitral proceedings or orders. A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan set aside a portion of an order passed by the Bombay High Court, which, while appointing a substitute arbitrator, had declared arbitral proceedings conducted on seven dates between March 17, 2022 and August 25,...
Bombay High Court Upholds ₹32 Crore Arbitral Award Against Solapur Municipal Corporation
The Bombay High Court recently rejected a challenge by the Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) against an arbitral award directing it to pay over ₹32 crore to a joint venture contractor. Justice Sandeep V. Marne, while upholding the award, observed that once it is established that project delays were attributable to the civic body's failures, all subsequent penalties and blacklisting orders against the contractor were rightly set aside. He held that the Award in the present case, dated 18th...