Does The Winner-Take-All In Arbitration? Understanding The Regime Of Costs Under Arbitration And Conciliation Act, 1996

In recent times, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms have become far more popular than the traditional methods of litigation. ADR mechanisms include arbitration, mediation, conciliation, negotiation, etc. Parties prefer ADR mechanisms because of their flexibility of procedure yet time bound approach, and as they are less expensive, less cumbersome and more result-oriented.Arbitration is one of the most attractive forms of ADR mechanism. It permits parties to resolve their disputes...

Extending The Mandate Of An Expired Arbitral Tribunal: Feasible Under The Law?

Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, (hereinafter referred to as the “A&C Act”) addresses the timeframe for issuing an arbitral award and when this deadline can be extended. However, there is an ongoing uncertainty and debate due to conflicting court rulings as to whether the arbitration tribunal's mandate can be extended before its expiration or only after it has already expired and when an application for such an extension can be filed.Section 29A was inserted by way...

A Tribute To Justice UL Bhat

Mr. Ullal Lakshminarayana Bhat began his legal career practicing in the local courts of Kasaragod, Kerala. While practicing law, Bhat was connected with the unified communist party and held leadership positions in multiple trade unions. He also ran for local body elections under the party banner. When the political affiliations of judges have become a significant area of concern in contemporary discourse, Justice Bhat was an embodiment of impartiality, impeccable integrity and fearlessness....

Accessing Justice In India: Needs Of Marginalised Communities

In a country with approximately 80,344 pending cases across the nation, access to justice remains a great challenge for vulnerable sections of society. A stark illustration of this is the case of a famous Bollywood star's son, whose bail application was granted within 26 days due to his ability to access the best resources and sufficient funds to hire top advocates. In contrast, thousands of cases remain unresolved in the Courts because the deprived section lacks access to similar...

Commercial Surrogacy: Examining The Issues Framed By The Supreme Court

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infertility is characterized as a medical condition of the male or female reproductive system marked by the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Infertility affects millions of people including both male and female and hinders their ability to naturally conceive a child. There is a growing demand for alternative reproductive alternatives as infertility rates rise. Every individual...

Debt Deconstructed: Analysis Of Supreme Court's Judgment On Determining The Nature Of Debt

The resolution professionals (RPs) are more often than not saddled with the decision of categorizing the claims submitted before them either as financial or operational debt. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (IBC) has broadly defined the terms, financial and operational debt. However, given the diversity in the nature of claims, interpretational challenge over what amounts to financial and operational debt, particularly whether a deposit amounts to financial or operational debt,...

Pre-Legislative Consultation: An Overview

In a democratic country like India, public participation in legislation enactment process is vital. Direct public consultation democratizes exposure to the principles and rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Several enactments have resulted in public retaliation where no consultation was sought from the public. Laws are enacted for the welfare of citizens and the dynamic approach of law seeks to eliminate the hindrances and calls for accountability and efficacy of the law so...

Unilateral Appointment And Section 12(5) Of Arbitration And Conciliation Act, 1996

Despite having landmark judgements and amendments, unilateral appointments have been perplexing the courts in India. The question remains whether unilateral appointments are void ab into, whether all unilateral appointments have to be tested with schedule seven and what is the extent of waiver of rights under section 12 Act. Although the Apex court has laid clear precedent in the Perkin Eastman and TRF case that all unilateral appointments attack the root of arbitration hence are invalid....

Mapping Ai-Arbitration Landscape: Exploring Blockchain Based Arbitration Models Through A Legal Lens

In today's time, blockchain technology stands to be extremely revolutionary in every aspect of life. Its decentralized structure, immutable record keeping and operation on a peer-to-peer computer network, makes it a transparent and trustworthy asset.i This technology finds its place in smart contracts which simply connote contracts that are self-executing based on performance of certain actions already fed via code.ii Smart contracts when run over blockchain technology conceptualize...

Can A Complaint Be Amended In 138 Case(s)?

Baring police cases, all cases in India start and depend upon the written instruments. In civil cases, plaintiffs begin their cases with filing requisite plaints, whereas in private criminal cases, complaint in writing marks the initiation of the cases. Ergo, it is inevitable that the drafting of cases become paramount importance as the fate of the cases are based upon such written instruments, and the real factual scenario takes a back seat and often go out of the picture and everything...

Reviewing The Role Of An Advisory Board Under Preventive Detention Law

Recently, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Nenavath Bujji v. State of Telangana,[1] explained the 'proactive role' that an Advisory Board is expected to play while reviewing preventive detention orders. The Court explained that the Board should not only analyse the subjective satisfaction of the detaining authority but also check whether the “… detention is against the spirit of the Act or in contravention of the law as laid down by the courts”. The procedure adopted before...

Two Finger Test: A Bain To Women's Dignity

“The use of the two-finger test or the Per-Vaginum examination has no scientific base and is an affront to a woman's dignity.” In May 2013, the use of the two-finger test was declared unconstitutional by the apex court. Further, in March 2014, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued guidelines for the medico-legal care of sexual violence victims/survivors which banned the two-finger test as the size of vaginal introitus has no relevancy in a case of sexual violence. The...