Writ Jurisdiction Can Be Exercised Despite Arbitration Remedy In Exceptional Cases: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that where a contract contains an arbitration clause, parties have an alternative remedy of invoking arbitration, particularly when the dispute involves questions of fact that cannot be adjudicated in writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta, relying on the judgment of Whirlpool Corporation v. Registrar of Trade Marks, Mumbai and others reiterated that writ jurisdiction may still be exercised in exceptional...

Pre-Named Arbitrator Can Constitute Tribunal Only If Mutual Consent Continues: Delhi High Court

On 16 September, the Delhi High Court held that naming an arbitrator in an arbitration agreement may reflect the parties' mutual and continuing consent to his appointment. However, where one party alone appoints the named arbitrator after a dispute arises, the appointment must satisfy the safeguards under Section 12(5) read with the Seventh Schedule to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain dismissed Matsya Fincap Pvt. Ltd.'s...

Two-Year Delay In Pronouncing Arbitral Award Not Enough To Set It Aside: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that a two-year delay in pronouncing an arbitral award cannot, by itself, be a ground to set aside the award unless the delay is unexplained and is shown to have adversely affected the findings.A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Vinod Kumar made the observation while setting aside a single judge's order.The order had set aside a ₹65.12 crore arbitral award in favour of Unison Hotels Private Limited against IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company...

Forgery Allegation Alone No Ground To Reject Plea For Arbitrator Appointment: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that an allegation that an arbitration agreement was forged does not automatically require rejection of an application for appointment of an arbitrator where independent documents provide a prima facie basis for the agreement's existence. Justice Amit Borkar appointed Advocate Ranjeev Carvalho as sole arbitrator to decide the Patkar House redevelopment dispute between developer Kiran Narendra Patkar and Milan Narendra Patkar. All objections concerning the...

Delhi High Court Constitutes Tribunal For D P Jain-NHAI Dispute, Allows Change In SAROD Procedure

The Delhi High Court on 10 September constituted a three-member Arbitral Tribunal to adjudicate disputes between D P Jain Bangalore Chennai Expressways Private Limited and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) arising from the termination of a Concession Agreement for construction of a section of the Bangalore-Chennai Expressway. Justice Sachin Datta constituted the Tribunal after both parties jointly agreed to depart from the arbitration procedure prescribed under their agreement,...

'Vague Intuition' Of Arbitrator Bias Not Enough To Set Aside Award: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently dismissed a challenge to an arbitral award, holding that a belated suspicion of bias cannot by itself justify interference with an award.“According to this Court, a vague intuition of biasness at such a belated stage or a simple suspicion by an unhappy party of biasness is not enough to claim biasness, as any such allegation must rest on solid facts, clear evidence, or statutory conflicts,” Justice Om Prakash Shukla held.The court was hearing a petition filed by...

No Separate Signature Needed On Invoice Arbitration Clause If Parties Acted On It: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on 9 September held that the absence of a separate signature on an arbitration clause printed on the reverse of invoices does not, by itself, negate the existence of an arbitration agreement where the invoices were received and acted upon. Justice Om Prakash Shukla referred the commercial dispute between Tinna Rubber and Infrastructure Limited and Pankaj Gandhi to arbitration and appointed Advocate Mansvini Jain as the sole arbitrator. The Bench observed: “The Respondent's...

One Party's Arbitrator Cannot Act As Sole Arbitrator If Other Fails To Nominate: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on 31 August held that where an arbitration agreement gives both parties the right to nominate an arbitrator, one party's nominee cannot proceed as the sole arbitrator merely because the other party failed to make its nomination. The party that has exercised its right to nominate must instead approach the Court under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A Division Bench of Justices S. Sunil Dutt Yadav and K.G. Shanthi allowed Lotus Landmarks'...

Gujarat High Court Sets Aside Polymech's ₹40.53 Lakh Majority Award, Upholds ₹4.25 Lakh Minority Award

The Gujarat High Court set aside majority awards granting Rs. 40.53 lakh to Polymech Plast Machines Limited in its insurance dispute with National Insurance Company Limited and upheld the minority award granting Rs. 4.25 lakh. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray held that an arbitral award is vitiated by perversity where arbitrators rely on an office note as the governing insurance policy while excluding the policy containing the arbitration clause. The...

Delhi High Court Partly Sets Aside ₹1.42 Cr. SBI Contractor Award, Rejects Emden Formula Without Proof

On 15 September, the Delhi High Court partly set aside an arbitral award in favour of contractor K.R. Anand in a dispute with State Bank of India (SBI) over the construction of 76 residential flats for its officers in Noida. Justice Avneesh Jhingan noted that an arbitrator cannot award overhead losses using the Emden formula without evidence establishing the actual loss suffered or showing that such loss was difficult or impossible to prove, while upholding some portions of the award while...

Delhi High Court Issues Notice On BharatPe Plea Over Unity Small Finance Bank Warrants Transfer

The Delhi High Court has issued notice on BharatPe's (Resilient Innovations) plea against Centrum Financial Services Limited and JBCG Advisory Services Private Limited over the alleged transfer and encumbrance of warrants issued by Unity Small Finance Bank without its consent.The plea seeks interim relief restraining the two companies from transferring or creating any encumbrance over the warrants without BharatPe's prior written consent. It alleges that such action would violate the...

State Cannot Bypass Statutory Limitation By Challenging MSME Award Through Writ: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on 3 September held that the State cannot circumvent the statutory limitation for challenging an arbitral award passed by the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council by invoking the High Court's writ jurisdiction for a merits review. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha allowed the writ appeal filed by the Commissioner, Bhoomi Monitoring Cell, only to the extent of holding that the State's writ petition challenging a Rs....