Party Cannot Invoke HC's Supervisory Jurisdiction After Withdrawing Arbitral Award Challenge: Punjab & Haryana HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday held that a party that withdraws its challenge to an arbitral award cannot later use the High Court's supervisory jurisdiction to reopen the same dispute through a different route. “The supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 being discretionary and equitable ought not to be exercised in favour of a litigant who has by withdrawing the objections abandoned the statutory remedy and now seeks to circumvent the consequences of that withdrawal." ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Delhi High Court Upholds Licence Fee In Goyal MG Gases Dispute, Says Conduct Affirms Contract

The Delhi High Court on 12 May dismissed the appeals filed by Classic Motors Pvt. Ltd., holding that its continued occupation of the premises and execution of a subsequent addendum amounted to clear affirmation of the contract, not rescission, and therefore it could not later seek reduction of the agreed licence fee on grounds of alleged misrepresentation. A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan upheld the Single Judge's decision restoring the contractual licence fee...

Delhi Metro Phase-III Project: Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Against DMRC Over ₹3.47 Crore ECC Claim

The Delhi High Court has recently upheld an arbitral award requiring Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (DMRC) to reimburse contractor GYT TPL Joint Venture towards ₹3.47 crore in Environmental Compensation Charges (ECC), GST-related burdens and other additional costs. These arose during the execution of the Delhi Metro Phase III Dilshad Garden–New Bus Adda corridor project, including during the extended contract period. Justice Subramonium Prasad held that the Environmental Compensation...

Delhi HC Sets Aside ₹2.43 Crore Award In NTPC-Tarapore Dispute Over Serving NTPC Officials As Arbitrators

The Delhi High Court has set aside an arbitral award directing Tarapore & Company to pay over ₹2.43 crore to National Thermal Power Corporation Limited in a dispute arising from the Farakka Super Thermal Power Project. The court held that the arbitral process was vitiated by a reasonable apprehension of bias, as both the original and substitute arbitrators were serving NTPC officials, with the substitute arbitrator having been appointed by an interested NTPC official. The Single Bench of...