India

Anti-arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Asia-Pacific, BIT, Consent, Courts, ILC Articles on State Responsibility, India, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, UNCITRAL, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules

(Willkie Farr & Gallagher) and (Aarna Law)/ /Leave a comment

On 29 September 2014, the Calcutta High Court in Board of Trustees of the Port of Kolkata v. Louis Dreyfus Armaturs SAS & Ors delivered the first decision by an Indian Court on a case directly arising from an investment treaty arbitration. The case concerns an anti-arbitration injunction sought against Louis Dreyfus Armateurs SAS (“LDA”),…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrators, India, Singapore, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

, (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /4 Comments
WilmerHale

In the recent case of Pricol v. Johnson Controls (Pricol Limited v. Johnson Controls Enterprises Ltd and Ors, Arbitration Case (Civil) No.30 of 2014), the Supreme Court of India declined to intervene in an international arbitration with the SIAC as appointing authority, upholding the parties’ chosen mechanism in a well-reasoned decision which was marked by…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, India

(Clyde and Co) and (Legaleidescope)/ /Leave a comment
Clyde & Co.

During the last few years, a series of court decisions in India have strengthened the pro-arbitration stance in the Indian judiciary. In BALCO (2012), the Supreme Court of India limited the supervisory jurisdiction of the Indian courts regarding arbitrations seated outside India. Since BALCO, further decisions of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Domestic Courts, India, Shareholders Agreement

(Verus Advocates)/ /Leave a comment

The Bombay High Court recently upheld an Order passed by the Company Law Board (CLB) refusing to refer disputes, arising from a shareholders agreement, to arbitration. The proceedings before the CLB arose from a dispute between Rakesh Malhotra (Rakesh) and certain members of the Malhotra family for control of the Supermax Group of Companies a…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, India

/ /3 Comments

The Law Commission of India under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah had constituted an expert committee to work on the 246th Report on “Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996” which was recently submitted to the Government of India. In this piece, Ashutosh Ray, who was a part of the expert committee, covers…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Proceedings, India, Seat of the arbitration

(National Law School of India University, Bangalore)/ /Leave a comment

A few days ago, this blog published an outsider’s perspective on the decision of the Supreme Court of India (SCI) in Reliance v Union of India (Reliance v Union of India, Civ App No. 5675 of 2014 (Supreme Court of India)) which has been applauded by international practitioners around the world since it curbed the…

Arbitration Agreements, Domestic law, English Law, India, Jurisdiction

(Clyde & Co. LLP)/ /1 Comment
Clyde & Co.

The potential intervention of Indian courts over foreign seated arbitrations is a hot topic in international arbitration. On 28 May 2014, the Supreme Court of India (“SCI”) heated up the debate by handing down a judgment in Reliance Industries Limited & Anr v Union of India. The SCI found that Indian courts had no jurisdiction…

Arbitral Award, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, BIT, Enforcement, India, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection

/ /Leave a comment

and Sapna Jhangiani, Clyde & Co. and Joseph P. Matthews J.D., University of Miami School of Law for Young Arbitration Practitioners It has been some time since the White Industries Australia Limited v Republic of India judgment was rendered against India in 2011. However, there remain several interesting aspects of the case still not widely…

Arbitration Agreements, India, Sovereign Immunity

/ /Leave a comment

Uniform jurisprudence on Sovereign immunity still seems a long distance away in international sphere for the reason that the national laws and approaches adopted by the States govern this issue. There have been attempts in the past to somehow streamline the approach by adopting legislations and, in a broader sense, by bringing a multilateral treaty….

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, India, Supreme Court

(Linklaters)/ /2 Comments
Linklaters

The Indian arbitration regime has seen a sea change in the last couple of years. Before the decision of the Indian Supreme Court (“SC”) in BALCO v. Kaiser Aluminium [Civ. App. No. 7019 of 2005] in 2012, the Indian judiciary was considered highly interventionist in its approach to arbitration. The reason for this was a…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrators, Domestic Courts, India, International arbitration, National Arbitration Laws

/ /1 Comment

The most quintessential element of international arbitration is an impartial, independent and neutral tribunal. Where impartiality and independence of the arbitrators is equated with direct relation to or bias towards one of the parties, neutrality is related to the nationality of the arbitrator. In international sphere, the “appearance of neutrality” is considered equally important, meaning…

Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, India

(ICC International Court of Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

and Niyati Gandhi A done to death topic in arbitration gatherings in emerging markets, particularly in India, is the debate about ad hoc versus institutional arbitration. The basic arguments in favour and against both have been discussed time and again. However, renewed support for institutional arbitration can be found in two recent judgments from the…

Governing Law, India, Seat of the arbitration

(ICC International Court of Arbitration)/ /5 Comments

and Niyati Gandhi On 14 February 2014, the Supreme Court of India (SCI) in Enercon India v. Enercon GMBH [Civ. App. 2086/7 of 2014] (Enercon) found occasion to revisit issues in connection with potential laws that govern an arbitration agreement. The impugned arbitration agreement contained the following clause: 18. DISPUTES AND ARBITRATION 18.1 * *…

Arbitrability, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration Agreements, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, Fraud, India

(ICC International Court of Arbitration)/ /1 Comment

and Niyati Gandhi, National Law School of India University in Bangalore The issues arising out of allegations of fraud in international commercial arbitration can be listed by way of two closely connected questions: 1) Do arbitral tribunals have the substantive jurisdiction to make determinations upon allegations of fraud? 2) If the contract containing an arbitration…

Arbitration, Customary international law, India, International Law, Pakistan, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Res Judicata

(University of Alberta Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

On 20 December 2013, the final phase in the Indus Waters Kishenganga Arbitration was completed with the rendering of a Final Award by the seven-member Court of Arbitration (“Court”) tasked with resolving the latest water dispute between Pakistan and India. The Court was constituted in 2010 following a Request for Arbitration submitted by Pakistan under…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Enforcement, India, Public Policy

(National Law University, Jodhpur)/ /Leave a comment

The Supreme Court of India handed down a judgment earlier this month that restates Indian position on the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in line with the international standards. In the case of Shri Lal Mahal Ltd. v. Progetto Grano Spa, a three judge bench of the apex court held that review of a foreign…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Arbitration clause, India, Law governing the arbitration, Provisional measures, Supreme Court

(Norton Rose Fulbright LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

Yograj Infrastructure Ltd. Vs. Ssang Yong Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. (on 1 September 2011) As reported in this blog, in May 2011 the Supreme Court of India (SCI) moderated the controversial principle it established in 2002 that allowed the Indian courts to intervene in arbitrations held outside of India unless that possibility was expressly…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitral seat, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Proceedings, India, Provisional measures, Set aside an arbitral award, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC))/ /3 Comments

International consciousness that India is an arbitration unfriendly jurisdiction has existed for some time now. This feeling owes in part to seemingly interventionist judicial views, in part to the delays that are oft complained of about the Indian judicial system and in part to the lack of infrastructure necessary for any arbitration friendly destination. This…