Party Cannot Indirectly Secure Unilateral Arbitrator Appointment By Choosing Arbitration Institution: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that a party interested in the outcome of an arbitration dispute cannot indirectly control the appointment of a sole arbitrator by unilaterally approaching an arbitration institution of its own choosing. “The law does not permit such a stratagem. The prohibition engrafted by Section 12(5) and the judicial decisions thereunder is directed not merely at the formal act of appointing an arbitrator, but at the substance of the process, the unilateral control...

Bombay High Court Flags 'Industrial Scale' Bank Recovery Proceedings Through Self-Chosen ODR Platforms

The Bombay High Court recently cautioned that banks conducting recovery proceedings “at an industrial scale” through self-chosen Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platforms risk concentrating multiple disputes before the same arbitrator. The court held that banks cannot sidestep the requirement of independent arbitral appointments by offering borrowers a purported choice from a list of ODR platforms curated by the bank itself. “In any case, for a bank to conduct recovery proceedings at an...

Telangana High Court Dismisses MSME's Plea Against Arbitration Reference After Consent To Tribunal

The Telangana High Court has held that a company cannot challenge an MSME arbitration reference after consenting to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal and participating in the proceedings. “After giving consent to the constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal and thereafter having participated in the proceedings before it, the writ petitioner cannot subsequently challenge the reference of the dispute to arbitration on the ground of the dispute not amenable to arbitration,” the Court...

SpiceJet Moves Supreme Court Against Delhi HC Refusal To Modify ₹144.51 Crore Deposit Condition In Dispute With Kalanithi Maran

SpiceJet Limited and its chairman, Ajay Singh, have moved the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order refusing to allow them to secure ₹144.51 crore due to Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways by depositing title deeds of SpiceJet's Gurugram property instead of making a cash deposit in their long-running arbitration dispute.A Bench of Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe will likely hear Spicejet's plea on May 19. On review petitions filed by SpiceJet and Ajay Singh, the High...

Earlier Arbitration Clause Binds Developer, Society Members As Redevelopment Agreements Adopted All Terms: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has recently referred a redevelopment dispute between a developer and five members of a co-operative housing society to arbitration, holding that an arbitration clause in an earlier development agreement became binding through later accommodation agreements that adopted all its terms. "This was, thus, not a case of mere reference to an earlier agreement but a case where the parties to the later contract clearly intended to import the Development Agreement, body and soul, into...

Bombay High Court Holds Arbitral Tribunal Cannot Rewrite EPC Contract Or Shift Contractual Risk

The Bombay High Court has partly set aside an arbitral award in favour of KEC International Ltd. in its dispute with Central Railway, holding that the Arbitral Tribunal went beyond the contract by treating increased earthwork quantities as a change in scope and granting additional payment. Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh observed that a lump sum EPC contract places the risk of quantity variations and site conditions on the contractor. This risk cannot later be shifted to Central Railway through...

High Court Cannot Reopen Arbitration Maintainability In Award Challenge After Final Reference-Stage Ruling: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has recently held that where a court has already conclusively ruled in proceedings under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 that arbitration is maintainable and that finding has attained finality, the issue cannot be reopened later in a Section 37 challenge to the arbitral award. “When the Courts have ruled on the fact that application under Section 11 of the Act was maintainable and when such a decision has attained finality, revisiting the issue of...

Order To Proceed Ex Parte In Arbitration Is Procedural, Not Challengeable Under Section 34: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that while a procedural direction to proceed ex parte in arbitration is not challengeable under Section 34 at that stage, the outright rejection of a counterclaim for non-appearance amounts to a final determination of substantive rights. Setting aside the arbitral tribunal's rejection of Eureka Forbes Limited's counterclaim against Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the Court restored it for adjudication. Justice Harish Vaidyanathan...

Delhi High Court Refers PhysicsWallah Lease Dispute To Arbitration Despite 'Inelegantly Drafted' Clause

The Delhi High Court has, on Wednesday, referred a lease dispute between edtech company PhysicsWallah Ltd. and three other individuals to arbitration.The court held that an arbitration clause, even if inelegantly drafted or lacking precision in its phraseology, can still constitute a valid arbitration agreement if it sufficiently reflects the parties' intention to arbitrate. Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar appointed Advocate Mohini Bhat as the Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute...

Bombay High Court Refers Talent Management Firm's Dispute With YouTuber Prajakta Koli To Arbitration

The Bombay High Court recently referred disputes between Singapore-based talent management firm OneDigital Entertainment Pte Ltd. and YouTuber-actor Prajakta Koli to arbitration. A single bench of Justice Sandeep V. Marne appointed former Bombay High Court judge Justice Sadhana Jadhav as the sole arbitrator to adjudicate disputes arising out of a Performance of Artists Management Agreement dated September 10, 2015. OneDigital had approached the High Court seeking interim relief before the...

J&K and Ladakh High Court Rejects Arbitration Plea Against HPCL, Finds No Agreement In Ad Hoc Dealership

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on 12 May dismissed a petition by Kanta Devi under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, holding that no valid arbitration agreement existed in relation to an ad hoc petrol pump dealership governed through a temporary arrangement with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).Justice Rajnesh Oswal held that applying operational terms of HPCL's Standard Dealership Agreement to a temporary arrangement did not amount to...

Allahabad High Court Allows Writ Petition Against Arbitral Award Passed After Unilateral Shift Of Seat

The Allahabad High Court on 5 May held that a writ petition challenging an ex parte arbitral award is maintainable in exceptional circumstances involving lack of jurisdiction or violation of principles of natural justice. A Division Bench of Justices Ajit Kumar and Indrajeet Shukla allowed the writ petition filed by Sushil Kumar Prajapati the proprietor of Laxmi Medical Agency against the Central Hospital, North Central Railway, Allahabad, and set aside an ex parte arbitral award passed in...