Supreme Court Quarterly Digest 2022- ARBITRATION (Jan - Mar)

Arbitration Act, 1940; Section 30, 33 - Scope of interference by courts - A Court does not sit in appeal over an Award passed by an Arbitrator and the only grounds on which it can be challenged are those that have been specified in Sections 30 and 33 of the Arbitration Act, namely, when there is an error on the face of the Award or when the learned Arbitrator has misconducted himself or the proceedings. (Para 10-15) Atlanta Ltd. v. Union of India, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 63 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Jurisdiction - When two or more Courts have jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes arising out of an arbitration agreement, the parties might, by agreement, decide to refer all disputes to any one Court to the exclusion of all other Courts, which might otherwise have had jurisdiction to decide the disputes. The parties cannot, however, by consent, confer jurisdiction on a Court which inherently lacked jurisdiction. (Para 47) Ravi Ranjan Developers Pvt. Ltd. v. Aditya Kumar Chatterjee, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 329 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Only if the agreement of the parties was construed to provide for seat/place of arbitration in India, would Part-I of the 1996 Act be applicable. If the seat/place were outside India, Part-I would not apply, even though the venue of a few sittings may have been in India, or the cause of action may have arisen in India. (Para 36) Ravi Ranjan Developers Pvt. Ltd. v. Aditya Kumar Chatterjee, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 329 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Seat and Venue - Sittings at various places are relatable to venue. It cannot be equated with the seat of arbitration or place of arbitration, which has a different connotation. (Para 44, 45) Ravi Ranjan Developers Pvt. Ltd. v. Aditya Kumar Chatterjee, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 329 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Special leave petition against an order of the Calcutta High Court, allowing an Arbitration Petition under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for appointment of an Arbitrator - Allowed - Calcutta High Court inherently lacks jurisdiction to entertain the application. Ravi Ranjan Developers Pvt. Ltd. v. Aditya Kumar Chatterjee, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 329 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; Section 11 - While dealing with petition under Section 11, the Court by default would refer the matter when contentions relating to non arbitrability are plainly arguable. In such case, the issue of non arbitrability is left open to be decided by the Arbitral Tribunal. (Para 11) Mohammed Masroor Shaikh v. Bharat Bhushan Gupta, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 120 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; Section 11(6) - A party to the arbitration agreement can appoint an arbitrator even after an Arbitration Petition has been filed by the other party before the High Court for appointment of an arbitrator if the party has not been given due notice of the same. (Para 16) Durga Welding Works v. Chief Engineer, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 9 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; Section 11(6) and 2(1)(e) - An application under Section 11(6) of the A&C Act for appointment of an Arbitrator/Arbitral Tribunal cannot be moved in any High Court in India, irrespective of its territorial jurisdiction. Section 11(6) of the A&C Act has to be harmoniously read with Section 2(1)(e) of the A&C Act and construed to mean, a High Court which exercises superintendence/supervisory jurisdiction over a Court within the meaning of Section 2(1)(e) of the A&C Act. It could never have been the intention of Section 11(6) of the A&C Act that arbitration proceedings should be initiated in any High Court in India, irrespective of whether the Respondent resided or carried on business within the jurisdiction of that High Court, and irrespective of whether any part of the cause of action arose within the jurisdiction of that Court, to put an opponent at a disadvantage and steal a march over the opponent. Ravi Ranjan Developers Pvt. Ltd. v. Aditya Kumar Chatterjee, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 329 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; Section 12(5) read with Seventh Schedule - An arbitral tribunal constituted as per an arbitration clause before the 2015 amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 will lose its mandate if it violates the neutrality clause under Section 12(5) read with the Seventh Schedule, which were incorporated through the 2015 amendment. (Para 8, 9) Ellora Paper Mills Ltd. v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 8 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; Section 31 - Post-award interest can be granted by an Arbitrator on the interest amount awarded. (Para 4-6) UHL Power Company Ltd. v. State of Himachal Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 18 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; Section 34 - An error in interpretation of a contract in a case where there is valid and lawful submission of arbitral disputes to an Arbitral Tribunal is an error within...

Supreme Court Quarterly Digest 2022- ARBITRATION (Jan - Mar)

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