Gujarat High Court Hosts 2-Day Conference On Arbitration Law

The Gujarat High Court in collaboration with the Gujarat State Judicial Academy hosted a Two-Day Conference on Arbitration Law on September 20-21 bringing together eminent Judges and senior advocates from across the country, aiming to deepen engagement with arbitration jurisprudence, highlighting contemporary challenges and a way forward for the future. A press note states that the participants at the conference included Judges of the District Judiciary and the lawyers.The Chief Guest of the conference, Supreme Court Justice NV Anjaria delivered the address at the inaugural session where he emphasized that arbitration should not become a rendezvous for the elite but it should be a common man friendly mechanism for it to truly be a real alternative justice delivery system.Highlighting that arbitration has roots in history he said, “This multi-door courthouse can be imagined for India, where the courts are temples of justice, namely that this temple has many rooms, many spaces, for different alternative dispute resolution systems, one for arbitration, one for conciliation, one for mediation, one for Lok Adalat". On the concept of Arbitration the judge said, "When we come to the system of arbitration, basically it is a voluntarily chosen and self evolved private mechanism to solve and put an end to the disputes. The unique feature of arbitration is parties chose their own judges who will be arbitrator...".Amongst the other dignitaries present were High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal along with Justice A.Y.Kogje, Justice A.S. Supehia, and Justice Bhargav D. Karia.In her welcome address, Chief Justice Agarwal said that “This Conference marks an important milestone in advancing arbitration in the State of Gujarat. This event reinforces the commitment of the High Court of Gujarat to strengthen the system of dispute resolution outside the traditional courts by engaging with all the stakeholders through capacity-building programs and is designed for the District Judiciary and members of the legal fraternity, including lawyers practicing in District Courts, with idea to strengthen themso that disputes can be resolved effectively at the grassroots level.” She highlighted that majority of litigants in India first engage with the justice delivery system at the district level and it is here, in the trial courts, that the justice system truly meets the citizens of the State. The Chief Justice also added that if arbitration, mediation, and hybrid models of dispute resolution are to succeed in the State and in our Country, their strength must be felt not only in the Metropolitan centres, but also in every district and every taluka Court.Vote of thanks was given by Justice A. Y. Kogje who is the Senior most Judge of the Gujarat High Court. Session I, Day 1 was Chaired by the Chief Justice Agarwal and in her introductory remarks as the Chair Person, she explained the essence of arbitration: Party Autonomy and the role of Courts as facilitators not supervisors. Panelists included Justice A.Y. Kogje, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore, former Advocate General Darius Khambata, and Senior Advocate Gourab Banerji who shared their vast experience with the august gathering.Session II on Day one was Chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli and the panel included Justice Girish Kulkarni (Bombay High Court), Justice A.S. Supehia, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya (Calcutta High Court), Senior Advocate Balbir Singh, and Senior Advocate Ritin Rai. Discussion was mainly on Referral powers of courts, Challenges to arbitrators, Kompetenz-Kompetenz and the Equality principle in arbitration.Session III on Day 2 was Chaired by Delhi High Court Justice C. Hari Shankar focusing on interim measures, anti-suit injunctions, statutory arbitrations, termination of mandate and substitute arbitrator. Panelists included Justice Sangeeta K. Vishen, Dr. S. Muralidhar, Senior Advocate Saurabh Soparkar, Senior Advocate Nakul Dewan and Advocate Anirudh Krishnan.Session IV on Day 2 was Chaired by Justice Bhargav D. Karia, Judge, Gujarat High Court. The topics discussed were making of awards, costs & termination of arbitration proceedings, enforcement of awards, Jurisdiction of courts and limitation in arbitration. The panel included Justice Ramesh Dhanuka (Former Chief Justice, Bombay High Court), Justice Gautam Patel (Former Judge, Bombay High Court), Senior Advocate N.L. Rajah, and Senior Advocate Unmesh Shukla.The Conference concluded with a 'Valedictory Session: Way Forward' by the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta. In his address, SGI Mehta said that there is "no systematic study done as to how arbitration as a concept of dispute adjudication has succeeded in India or it has failed or it has partly succeeded and it has partly failed". "One of the tests of success or failure of system of adjudication is whether litigant the beneficiary of the system is happy with the system or not. I don't think there is ...

Gujarat High Court Hosts 2-Day Conference On Arbitration Law

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