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Arbitration In India – Mechanism And Challenges-Polity Notes For W.B.C.S Aspirants.
ভারতে আরবিট্রেশন – মেকানিজম এবং চ্যালেঞ্জ – WBCS পরীক্ষার্থীদের জন্য ।
Arbitration in India is gaining importance given the overstressed judicial system with the huge pendency of cases. With a lot of commercial disputes, it’s necessary to have a proper arbitration mechanism in place for faster resolution of issues.Continue Reading Arbitration In India – Mechanism And Challenges-Polity Notes For W.B.C.S Aspirants.
In this article, we discuss topics like the importance of arbitration, the present status of arbitration in India, problems afflicting Indian arbitration mechanism, various arbitration mechanisms and their pros and cons, key recommendations of B N Srikrishna Committee, etc.
What is arbitration?
In simple words, arbitration is the act of dispute settlement through an arbitrator, i.e. a third party, who is not involved in the dispute.
It is an alternative dispute settlement mechanism, aiming at settlement outside the court.
What are the advantages arbitration?
- It minimizes the court intervention.
- It brings down the costs of dispute settlement.
- It fixes timelines for expeditious disposal.
- It ensures the neutrality of arbitrator and enforcement of awards.
- Having an arbitration law encourages foreign investments to a country. It projects the country as an investor friendly one having a sound legal framework and ease of doing business.
- Having an arbitration law facilitate effective conduct of international and domestic arbitrations raised under various agreements.
What is the mechanism of arbitration in India?
Arbitration in India is regulated by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
The Act is based on the 1985 UNCITRAL (The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976.
In 2015, Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act was enacted to improve the arbitration in India.
Provision |
Prior to 2015 Amendment |
After 2015 Amendment |
| Applicability of certain provisions related to interim orders by a court, the order of the arbitral tribunal, appealable orders, etc. to international commercial arbitration | Provisions only applied to matters where the place of arbitration was India. | Provisions also apply to international commercial arbitrations even if the place of arbitration is outside India |
| Powers of the court to refer a party to arbitration if an agreement exists | If any matter is the subject of an arbitration agreement, parties will be referred to the arbitration | The Court must refer the parties to arbitration unless it thinks that a valid arbitration agreement does not exist |
| Interim order by a court | Party to arbitration may apply to a court for interim relief before the arbitration is complete | If the court passes an interim order before the commencement of arbitral proceedings, the proceedings must commence within 90 days from the making of the order, or within a time specified by the Court. Further, the Court must not accept such an application, unless it thinks that the arbitral tribunal will not be able to provide a similar remedy. |
| Public policy as grounds for challenging an award | Court to set aside an arbitral award if it is in conflict with the public policy of India. Includes awards affected by (i) fraud or corruption, and (ii) those in violation of confidentiality and admissibility of evidence provisions in the act. | In addition, includes awards that are (i) in contravention of the fundamental policy of Indian Law or (ii) conflict with the notions of morality or justice. |
| Appointment of arbitrators | Parties to appoint arbitrators. If they are unable to appoint arbitrators within 30 days, the matter is referred to the court to make such appointments. | Court to confine itself to the examination of the existence of a valid arbitration agreement. |
| The time period for arbitral awards | ———– | Requires an arbitral tribunal to make its award within 12 months. This may be extended by a six month period. If an award is made within six months, the arbitral tribunal will receive additional fees. If it is delayed beyond the specified time because of the arbitral tribunal, the fees of the arbitrator will be reduced, up to 5%, for each month of delay. |
| The time period for disposal of cases by a court | ———— | Award that is made before a court, must be disposed of within a period of one year |
| Fast track procedure for arbitration | ———— | Permits parties to choose to conduct arbitration proceedings in a fast track manner. The award would be granted within six months |
The 2015 amendments tried to ensure quick enforcement of contracts, easy recovery of monetary claims, reduce the pendency of cases in courts and hasten the process of dispute resolution through arbitration, so as to encourage foreign investment by projecting India as an investor friendly country having a sound legal framework and ease of doing business in India.
However, arbitration in India is still not a preferred means of dispute settlement. The reason behind the same can be noted in the negatives of arbitration systems in the next section.
What are the types of arbitration in India?
There are two types of arbitration in India: Ad-hoc arbitration and Institutional arbitration.
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Ad-hoc arbitration
Ad-hoc Arbitration can be defined as a procedure of arbitration where a tribunal will conduct arbitration between the parties, following the rules which have been agreed by the parties beforehand or by following the rules which have been laid down by the tribunal, in case the parties do not have any agreement between them.
Positives of Ad-Hoc Arbitration |
Negatives of Ad-Hoc Arbitration |
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Institutional arbitration
Institutional arbitration refers to the administration of arbitration by an institution in accordance with its rules of procedure. The institution provides appointment of arbitrators, case management services including oversight of the arbitral process, venues for holding hearings, etc.
Presently there are over 35 arbitral institutions in India, which are domestic, international arbitral institutions, arbitration facilities by PSUs, trade and merchant associations, and city-specific chambers of commerce and industry. Many have their own rules and some follow the arbitration rules of the UNCITRAL.
Indian institutions that administer arbitrations have an increasing popularity but insufficient workload. Many arbitrations involving Indian parties are administered by the international arbitral institutions such as the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC Court”), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) and the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”),
Positives of Institutional Arbitration |
Negatives of Institutional Arbitration |
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What are the challenges of institutional arbitration in India?
In addition to the above-mentioned negatives of Institutional arbitration, following are the challenges of the institutional arbitration in India.
- Issues relating to administration and management of arbitral institutions.
- Perceptions regarding arbitrators and expertise issues relating to resources and government support, lack of initial capital, poor and inadequate infrastructure, lack of properly trained administrative staff, lack of qualified arbitrators, etc.
- Issues in developing India as an international arbitration seat.
To address the challenges and shortcoming of the Institutional arbitration, a High-Level Committee (HLC) to Review the Institutionalisation of Arbitration Mechanism in India under Mr Justice B N Srikrishna was constituted in 2016. The committee submitted its report on 3 August 2017.
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