Arbitration | Mechanical Reliance On No Claim Certificate Is Non-Adjudication: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that mechanical reliance on a 'No Claim Certificate,' without examining whether the claims raised were covered by such document, amounts to non-adjudication.A Single Bench of Justice Gaurang Kanth in an order dated January 9 explained that the mechanical reliance on such certificates, without examining the surrounding facts and evidence, amounts to non-adjudication and renders the award vulnerable to challenge. The Court observed:“Even execution of a...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Arbitration Against Bhushan Steel Following Tata Steel Takeover

The Delhi High Court has set aside an arbitral tribunal order that allowed arbitration to continue against Tata Steel, formerly Bhushan Steel, even after its resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was approved. A single-judge bench of Justice Amit Sharma allowed Tata Steel's writ petition and quashed the tribunal's October 7, 2020 order. The court said that once a resolution plan is approved, it binds all creditors. “The Resolution Plan had attained finality and would be...

Court Intervention In Arbitrator Appointment Required Only If Institution Fails: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that court intervention for the appointment of arbitrators is required only when an arbitral institution fails to discharge its designated functions in appointing an arbitrator. A single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep V Marne held that once parties agree to resolve disputes through an arbitral institution, the appointment procedure prescribed by that institution must be followed.“In case of an institutional arbitration, application for appointment of...

Court Cannot Use Attachment In Arbitration To Turn Unsecured Damages Claim Into Secured Debt: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has said that a claim for demurrage, which is essentially a charge demanded for delay in loading or unloading a ship, cannot be treated as an actual money debt until an arbitral tribunal finally decides who is at fault. Because of this, the court held that such a claim cannot be secured by attaching goods under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act while arbitration is still pending. A division bench of Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari and Justice Maheswara Rao Kuncheam, in...

Delhi High Court Refuses Interim Relief to JLT Energy Against Hindustan Cleanenergy In Solar Deal Dispute

The Delhi High Court has refused to restrain Hindustan Cleanenergy Limited and its group companies from creating third-party rights in two solar power projects in Tamil Nadu and Bihar, holding that the share purchase agreements signed with a French investor had already come to an end on their own terms. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, in an order dated January 6, 2026, said courts cannot use interim powers to keep a contract alive when the agreement itself provides for its termination When...

Individual Members' Suit Does Not Abandon Society's Arbitration Clause With Developer: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that a civil suit filed by individual members of a housing society against a developer does not amount to abandonment of the arbitration clause in a redevelopment agreement. The Court said such a decision can be taken only by the society acting as a collective body. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan said that once a co-operative housing society is formed, individual members give up their separate will to the collective will of the society....

Madras High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Granting Relief To 93 Chennai Port Spillage Workers

The Madras High Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by the Chennai Port Authority, refusing to set aside an arbitral award that directed the port to reinstate spillage-handling workers and grant back wages, gratuity and other service benefits to 93 workers. A single bench of Justice N Anand Venkatesh held that the award did not suffer from any jurisdictional error or patent illegality and did not conflict with public policy. The court observed that the Port Trust, as a State...

Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Award In Patel Gammon's Favour in Rampur Hydropower Project Dispute

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition filed by SJVN Limited challenging an arbitral award that granted payment to Patel Gammon Joint Venture for transporting excavated material during a hydroelectric project in Himachal Pradesh. A single-judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh upheld the substance of the arbitral award but held that the court lacked territorial jurisdiction to entertain the challenge under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The court said the...

Arbitral Proceedings Commence On Respondent Receiving Notice Invoking Arbitration Clause, Not On Arbitrator's Appointment : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court reaffirmed that the arbitral proceedings are set to commence on the date of receipt of notice invoking the arbitration clause by the respondent. “...the date on which the respondent receives a notice or request invoking arbitration is the moment at which the arbitral proceedings commence under Section 21 of the Act. It further clarified that a valid invocation requires the notice to articulate the dispute sought to be referred but once such notice is received, commencement is...

Software Ownership Disputes Involving IPR Not Arbitrable: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has recently held that an arbitral tribunal was right in refusing to decide who owns a software product, saying such questions involve intellectual property rights that affect the public at large (rights in rem) and cannot be settled through private arbitration.A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Sandeep V Marne said that deciding ownership of the “Test Magic” software would inevitably involve ruling on trademark and copyright rights, which are not meant for arbitration. The...

Plea Of Delay U/S 29A A&C Act Cannot Be Used Selectively By NHAI When Extensions Granted In Similar Land Acquisition Cases: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that the National Highway Authority of India could not be permitted to raise the plea of delay and laches to defeat continuation of arbitral proceedings when extensions had already been granted and proceedings concluded in the cases of other similarly placed landowners. The court remarked that, having participated in the proceedings for almost nine years, NHAI could not invoke delay, particularly when the object of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996...

Mere Participation In Arbitration Won't Bar Challenge To Arbitrator's Eligibility, Waiver Must Be "Express & In Writing" : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that a party's involvement in arbitral proceedings does not, in itself, constitute a waiver of its right to object to an arbitrator's eligibility. The Court clarified that the right to object can only be waived by an express written agreement, rejecting any notion of a "deemed waiver" arising from conduct alone under Section 12(5) of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996.“The words “an express agreement in writing” in the proviso to Section 12(5) means that the...