Supreme Court
S. 31(7) Arbitration | Arbitral Tribunal Has Power To Award Different Rates Of Interest For Pre-Reference & Pendente Lite Period : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court held that under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, an Arbitral Tribunal has the power to award different rates of interest for different phases.A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan overturned the Delhi High Court's ruling, which had invalidated the tribunal's grant of interest on interest, deeming it impermissible under Section 31(7) of the Act. The bench heard the case where the dispute originated from a 1984 contract for the Thermal Power...
Supreme Court Deprecates 'Deliberate, Ambiguous' Drafting Of Arbitration Clauses; Calls For Suo Motu Action In Malafide Cases
Delivering a significant judgment on arbitration law, the Supreme Court today deprecated the practice of arbitration clauses being deliberately phrased "ambiguously" by members of legal fraternity and urged judicial forums across the country to throw out cases involving "shoddily drafted arbitration clauses" at the threshold.The Court said that such "malafide cases" are a "criminal wastage of judicial time" and have been allowed to go on for long. It called on the judicial forums to take...
Private Arbitration Clauses Cannot Override Statutory Mandates Under MSMED Act : Supreme Court
Reaffirming that the MSMED Act prevails over the Arbitration Act, as held in Gujarat State Civil Supplies v. Mahakali Foods, the Supreme Court set aside the Karnataka High Court's interference with MSMED proceedings in Delhi, despite the contract naming Bengaluru as the arbitration seat. The Court clarified that private contractual clauses cannot override the statutory mandate of the MSMED Act. Since the appellant-supplier was registered in Delhi, the Court noted that the Delhi Arbitration...
Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Validity Of S.5A, Kerala General Sales Tax Act and S.7A, Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act
The Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutional validity of Section 5A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and Section 7A of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959."The challenge to the constitutional validity must be rejected on the basis of the ratio elucidated by this Court in Kandaswami (supra), Hotel Balaji (supra) and Devi Dass (supra)...Hotel Balaji (supra) specifically upholds the constitutionality of the impugned provisions, disagreeing with the opinion/ratio expressed in...
High Court May Grant Article 227 Interim Relief In Arbitration Proceedings In Exceptional Cases : Supreme Court
aThe Supreme Court (May 7) held that while the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”) mandates minimal judicial interference, a High Court may, in exceptional cases, exercise its supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution to grant interim relief, particularly where denial of such protection would result in irreparable harm. “We are aware of the established legal principle that the Courts should refrain from interfering with the invocation of a bank...
S. 61(2) IBC | Appeal Filed Beyond 45 Days Not Condonable By NCLAT : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court today (May 7) ruled that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), acting as the Adjudicating Authority under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code), has no power to condone delays in filing appeals beyond the prescribed limit of 45 (30+15) days under Section 61(2) of the Code. Accordingly, the bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan set aside the decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which had improperly condoned the delay...
Review Petitions Against PMLA Judgment Can't Go Beyond 2 Issues : Union Tells Supreme Court
In the review petitions filed against the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgement, which upheld various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Union Government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 7) that the review hearing cannot go beyond the two specific issues which were orally flagged by the bench which issued notice in August 2022.A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh held a brief hearing of the review petitions today. At the...
Dispute Over Full & Final Settlement Is Arbitrable Despite Parties Discharging Contract : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court today (May 6) observed that if the insured alleges coercion in arriving at a settlement with the insurer, then the dispute over the validity of the settlement remains arbitrable. “Any dispute pertaining to the full and final settlement itself by necessary implication being a dispute arising out of or in relation to or under the substantive contract would not be precluded from reference to arbitration as the arbitration agreement contained in the original contract continues to...
PMLA Review: Supreme Court Reconstitutes Bench To Hear Pleas Against Vijay Madanlal Choudhary Judgment; Listed On May 7
The Supreme Court will hear on May 7 the review petitions filed against the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgement, which upheld various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).It may be recalled that a bench of Justices Surya Kant, CT Ravikumar (now retired) and Ujjal Bhuyan was dealing with the matter. However, after the retirement of Justice Ravikumar, a need arose for reconstitution of the bench.The bench now stands reconstituted with the addition of Justice N Kotiswar Singh,...
If Courts Can Only Set Aside Awards & Can't Modify Them, Parties Will Be Forced To Undergo Fresh Round Of Arbitration : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court recently held that in order to ensure efficient dispute resolution and uphold the objectives of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, the Court should be allowed to modify awards when parties challenge the tribunal's decision. The decision was rendered by a Constitutional Bench led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna comprising Justices BR Gavai,Sanjay Kumar, AG Masih and KV Viswanathan. Justice KV Viswanathan, however dissented on th issue whether Courts can modifiy awards under...
Explained| Why Supreme Court Set Aside JSW's Resolution Plan For Bhushan Steel & Power Ltd
The Supreme Court in its recent decision to set aside the Resolution Plan submitted by JSW Steel for Bhushan Steel and Power Ltd, flagged the various procedural non-compliances done by the Resolution Professional and lack of commercial wisdom exercised by the Committee of Creditors (Coc)Holding that the Resolution Plan of JSW was illegal and contrary to the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC), a bench comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma stated...