Arbitration Act 2015 Amendment To Section 12(5) Cannot Be Applied Retrospectively: Punjab & Haryana High Court

On 29 May, the Punjab and Haryana High Court held that executing courts cannot retrospectively apply the post-2015 neutrality regime under Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, to refuse enforcement of arbitral awards rendered under the law prevailing at the time of the arbitrator's appointment. A Bench of Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri allowed the revision petitions, set aside seven executing court orders, and directed continuation of execution proceedings. It observed: ...

Disputes On Corporate Restructuring Must Be Decided by NCLT, Not Arbitrator: Kerala High Court

On 1 June 2026, the Kerala High Court held that disputes involving corporate restructuring and division of company assets fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and are non-arbitrable. A Single Judge Bench of Justice Easwaran S allowed the petition challenging an arbitral ruling that had rejected a jurisdictional objection under Section 16 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. He observed: “Albeit, this Courts finds that the dispute before...

No Patent Illegality In Award Granting Security Forfeiture And Differential Cost Recovery: Telangana HC

The Telangana High Court on 4 May held that where a contract expressly provides for forfeiture of security and recovery of differential costs, the aggrieved party may invoke both remedies upon breach. A Division Bench of Justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Gadi Praveen Kumar dismissed the appeal filed by Ashok Rakesh Kumar and upheld an arbitral award in favour of the A.P. Nutrition Council (APNC), finding no patent illegality in the Tribunal granting both forms of relief. The judges...

Madhya Pradesh High Court Sets Aside ₹4.56 Crore MSME Award, Says Conciliation Cannot Be an 'Eyewash'

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that conciliation under the MSMED Act cannot be reduced to an “eyewash”, while setting aside an award passed by the Madhya Pradesh Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council against Aurionpro Solutions Ltd. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf held that the Council could not proceed to arbitration without first conducting and terminating conciliation proceedings in the manner prescribed by law. Observing that...

LiveLawBiz Arbitration Monthly Digest: May, 2026

Supreme CourtSupreme Court Refuses To Interfere With ₹66.31 Lakh Award In Favour Of Aakash In Coaching Franchise DisputeCase Title: M/S PARAMOUNT LEARNING SOLUTIONS AND ORS. Versus AAKASH EDUCATIONAL SERVICES LTD.Case Number: Diary No. 22100-2026Citation: 2026 LLBiz SC 173The 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...

Delhi High Court Rejects Oracle's Challenge To Award Refusing Transfer Of 'Exadata.in' Domain

The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with an arbitral award rejecting Oracle International Corporation's bid to secure the transfer of the domain name “www.exadata.in”. The court held that the arbitrator had arrived at a plausible factual conclusion that the threshold necessary for establishing bad-faith registration or use under the .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP) had not been met. Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar held that similarity between Oracle's registered...

Arbitrator's Plausible Reading Of Ambiguous Contract Clause Not Ground To Set Aside Award: Rajasthan HC

The Rajasthan High Court has held that where a contract contains an ambiguous term and the arbitrator adopts a plausible interpretation of that term, such interpretation does not amount to misconduct under Section 30 of the Arbitration Act, 1940. Justice Sandeep Shah upheld an arbitral award passed nearly two decades ago against the Union of India (UOI) in a dispute arising from fencing work along the Indo-Pak border and affirmed the arbitral award as well as the order of the District Judge,...

Manipur High Court Sets Aside ₹10 Crore Lottery Damages Award Favouring State, Cites No Proof Of Loss

The Manipur High Court on 30 May held that compensation under a liquidated damages clause cannot be awarded without evidence of actual loss where such loss is capable of proof, and partly set aside an arbitral award arising from a dispute over delayed commencement of online lottery draws. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice A. Bimol Singh partly allowed MWC Market Services Pvt. Ltd.'s appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, setting...

LiveLawBiz Arbitration Cases Weekly Digest: May 25 - May 30, 2026

NOMINAL INDEXAshok and Ors. v. Padam Chand and Ors., 2026 LLBiz SC 211Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation Ltd. v. M/s Jabalpur Corridor Pvt. Ltd., 2026 LLBiz SC 210Tarini Prasad Mohanty v. M/s Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited, 2026 LLBiz SC 206Bhupesh Bhayana and Another v. Kunal Seth and Another, 2026 LLBiz SC 205Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. Saryu Plastics Pvt. Ltd., 2026 LLBiz SC 203M/S BRH Wealth Kreators Ltd. v. Sudhir Kumar Aggarwal, 2026 LLBiz HC (DEL)...

Arbitrator Appointment By Agreed Arbitral Institution Cannot Be Treated As Unilateral: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has recently affirmed that the appointment of an arbitrator by an arbitral institution agreed upon by the parties cannot, by itself, be treated as a unilateral appointment, while setting aside orders that had refused to execute an arbitral award obtained by Sundaram Finance Ltd.A single bench of Justice Bipin Gupta relied on recent judgments of the Madras High Court and the Kerala High Court. The court unequivocally held that MCCI was mutually agreed upon by the parties,...

Fraud Findings Cannot Rest On Conjectures: Delhi HC Partly Sets Aside Order Against BRH Wealth Kreators

The Delhi High Court has partly set aside findings of a District Judge that had held brokerage firm BRH Wealth Kreators Ltd. guilty of defrauding an investor in connection with alleged unauthorised trades in his demat account. It held that findings of fraud cannot be returned without documentary evidence and cannot be based on intuition, conjectures or surmises. However, a Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora upheld the District Judge's order only...

Pending Suit Dispute Could Be Referred To Arbitration Only Through Court Under 1940 Act: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday held that under the now-repealed Arbitration Act, 1940, parties to a pending civil suit could not validly refer their dispute to arbitration without jointly approaching the court where the suit was pending for a reference. The court consequently decreed a suit for possession and mesne profits concerning a property in Gwalior and set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court judgment that had upheld dismissal of the suit. A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Atul...