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Vrinda Gaur* Introduction The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Act) was implemented with a foundational aim to transgress the normative court-facilitated resolution of disputes owing to the overburdened dockets of the benches and the overarching issue of adjournments sought either by the parties or granted by the courts. Through an adjudication by a mutually agreed group of experts, parties were bestowed with the privilege to settle their claims through a collaborative approach with a restricted role of the courts. However, the emergence of ambiguities and inefficiencies within the mechanism over time has led to no other alternative for the parties but to seek clarifications from the courts themselves. One major ambiguity which has led parties to knock on the doors of the court pertains to missed timelines by parties to the proceedings. Alternatively, parties are aggrieved by the delays attributable to the lackadaisical disposal of applications by the judicial forum itself. In light of this, the article delves into the plethora of factors which has caused arbitration as a mode of dispute resolution to be a time-staggering practice and further aims to prescribe a way forward to rectify the predicaments. Factors Attributable to Delays First, if we look at Part I of the Act, the most prominent provision facing the test of time is Section 8 of the Act, which gives a judicial authority the power to refer parties to arbitration. However, looking at most arbitration agreements/clauses, it binds parties to arbitration as soon as disputes arise and parties can proceed to such an arrangement without any interference by the courts. To much of our[1][2]  disappointment, this practice of first initiating legal proceedings against the party for breach of contractual obligations and later awaiting the green signal of the court to refer parties to arbitration has unnecessarily caused delays. Considering the pendency rate at judicial forums[3][4]  and a lack of time constraints on courts to dispose of a Section 8 application, it further burdens the dockets of the judicial benches. Second, concerning the issue of appointment of arbitrators under Section 11, if under circumstances, the parties fail to appoint an arbitrator mutually within a timeframe of 60 days, this onus is often shifted on a judicial authority to appoint the same. Apart from delays attributable to frequent adjournments sought by the parties, a complementary factor is the discretion granted to the courts concerning disposal timelines for authorising such appointments. Further, there is no mechanism in place to ensure that Section 11 applications get heard on a priority basis as the listing of matters is still done through a date determined by computer-based software which has no options for preferential listing. Third, a major factor leading to staggered timelines is a challenge to the appointment of arbitrators under Section 12 of the Act. If such a challenge is rejected by the tribunal at the initial stage, as per procedure the only opportunity a party has to challenge such an appointment is under Section 37 of the Act after the pronouncement of an award. Hypothetically speaking, if such a challenge is admitted under a Section 37 application, two recourses would follow: (i) initial proceeding would be set aside and fresh proceedings would follow at the discretion of the parties, or (ii) a new arbitrator may be appointed to evaluate the award and traverse through the pleadings of the parties to affirm the award. Both of these alternatives may take a considerable amount of time if not 6 months as prescribed under the Act. Considering the paramount role played by time in arbitration proceedings which necessitates the delivery of an award within one year after the completion of pleadings, a lack of discretion for parties to challenge the appointment after the arbitrator affirms his appointment under section 13 of the Act and before the appeal stage under Section 37 leads to unwarranted postponement of award enforcement and realisation of claims. This goes against the very design of the Act, which was to expedite outside court settlement by the mutual consent of the parties. Fourth, Section 23 of the Act furnishes a 6 month period for the completion of pleadings before the arbitral tribunal. However, ambiguity prevails on whether this timeline is the maximum limit or just recommendatory considering most proceedings neglect this timeframe and often exceed this timeframe. Moreover, this procedural inefficiency is due to a lack of defined procedural guidelines for conducting ad hoc arbitral proceedings as opposed to institution-facilitated settlements. Fifth, Section 37 of the Act provides for a provision of appeal to the award passed by the tribunal. Again, there is no prescribed timeline for allowing such an appeal before the courts. In practice, parties have been moving an appeal before the court, even after the expiry of the 90-day buffer under Section 36 of the Act, which prohibits an award recipient from moving for enforcement and allows the other party to challenge it on reasonable grounds before a court of law. Further, under the Commercial Courts Act 2015, a prescribed timeline for appeal is sanctioned at 60 days. Under this circumstance, there is no plausible explanation for a 90-day buffer under Section 36 of the Act. Conclusively, after the landmark Amazon Investment Holding LLC vs Future Retail judgment, the Apex Court has given sanction to the idea of emergency arbitration even though there are no explicit provisions within the Act recognising the same. Though in practice, the entire process ideally takes a minimum of 30 days including the ideal 14 days timeline for pronouncement of award, however, owing to a lack of legislative sanctions concerning timelines for appointments of emergency arbitrators and grant of interim relief by such persons leaves a wide scope of discretion to either the appointing authority or the emergency arbitrator to set timelines as per their individualistic interest and preference. Way Forward The delays caused either by the parties to the proceedings or the judicial authorities have been actively recognised by practitioners and experts.[5] [6]  However, little process has been made to bridge this gap of missed timelines despite the courts having on numerous occasions called out parties to proceed with punctuality. The need for efficient timelines has further been discussed in the recent Expert Committee report released by the Ministry of Law and Justice. In light of this, it is pertinent to take certain recourses to adequately address this issue. Firstly, in light of the increasing burden on the courts, it is necessary to have a distinct bench/division overseeing appeals and fresh petitions. If not all, it would be prudent to refer high-stake and high-valuation prospective disputes to this special bench. Further, the fast-track procedure under Section 29B has become popular amongst stakeholders with parties having the discretion to refer to fast-track proceedings at two stages, namely, (a) before the appointment of an arbitral tribunal and (b) at the time of appointment of the arbitral tribunal. Though this procedure ensures delivery of an award within 6 months as against the allotment of a 1-year time frame for delivery of an award under the routine procedure, a need is felt to extend its scope post-pleading stage. There is no rationale to date to restrict its application only up to the stage of the constitution of the arbitral tribunal and not after. Further, the government needs to sanction a certain procedural code, mainly for ad hoc arbitrations, as it is not as systematic as the case of Institutional Arbitration, where every institution has its prescribed code of conduct of arbitrators and relevant procedural formalities. A lack of time shrewdness under sections 8, 11,12, 23 and 37 as discussed above can most certainly be addressed through a sanction of prescribed timelines by the legislature To some extent, this would also be in consonance with the recommendations of the expert committee report[7][8]. Conclusively it is pertinent to give legislative sanction to numerous judicial precedents pronounced over time that would further aid the mechanism in upholding punctuality indirectly. For instance, a legislative sanction of the recent landmark ruling of the Apex Court In Re: Interplay Judgement where the court upheld the validity of an unstamped arbitration agreement, would prevent frivolous appeals and similar issues from arising before the court for further consideration. Hence, endorsing certain time constraints within the Act would make India an attractive destination for arbitration, both domestically and internationally. *Vrinda Gaur, a 3rd Year Law Student from National Law University Lucknow.

Abhinaya Ranganathan[1] & Akshita Grover[2] An arbitration agreement is a creation of a contract and is thus governed by the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996(‘ACA’), The Indian Contract Act, 1872 and The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (‘Stamp Act’). The Stamp Act provides that an unstamped instrument cannot be acted upon unless duly stamped. As a deviation from this, ACA provides for the validity of an arbitration agreement and does not mandate complying with the provisions of the Stamp Act. Due to this jigsaw of the legislations, there have been a series of cases which have attempted to answer the validity of an unstamped arbitration agreement. The case of Great Offshore held that the objective of ACA is to ensure minimal judicial intervention and held that “adding stamps, seals and other formalities to an arbitration agreement was antithetical to this objective”. The case of Geo-Group validated an unstamped arbitration agreement. As opposed to this,  SMS Tea Estates invalidated an arbitration clause contained in an unstamped contract. Building upon this, Garwareheld that arbitration clauses in unstamped contracts would be unenforceable. Vidya Drolia upheld both the decisions of Garware and SMS Tea Estates. In contrast, NN Global held that the absence of stamp duty will not be a valid ground for the unenforceability of an arbitration agreement. By a majority of 3:2, NN Global 2 overruled NN Global 1 and held that an unstamped arbitration agreement will be void and unenforceable. In a recent case, In Re: The Interplay, the SC has finally settled the law and has incorporated the doctrine of separability and competence – competence. The paper attempts at looking at the validity of an unstamped arbitration agreement through the lens of these doctrines and its implications. THE DOCTRINE OF SEPARABILTY An arbitration agreement can be in the form of a clause in a contract or a separate agreement in itself. But, regardless of the form, the parties sign the same with a presumption that in case of any dispute arising out of the contract, the parties will have an arbitration proceeding (in effect, excluding the court’s jurisdiction). This expectation of the parties, is essentially the ‘Presumption of Separability’. This presumption holds that the validity or existence of the contract will not affect the arbitration agreement and the identities of the contract. The arbitration agreement and the contract are to be treated separately, wherein the former deals with the substantive rights and obligations and the later lays down the procedural framework. This presumption becomes relevant in the context of an unstamped arbitration agreement. For an arbitration agreement to be valid, Section 35 of the Stamp Act mandates stamping whereas Section 7 of ACA only mandates that it be in writing and duly signed. This raises the question of “whether an arbitration agreement is required to be stamped to be valid and enforceable?” Globally, the courts have enforced the presumption of separability and have held it to be at the core of arbitration laws. If the parties to an arbitration agreement need to approach courts every time a contract is deemed to be invalid, then in effect, the tribunals will be excused of jurisdiction and the entire purpose of arbitration will be undermined. The case of NN Global 2 negated this doctrine and gave precedence to the procedure established by the Stamp Act. As an implication, the Stamp Act had an overriding effect over the ACA. Parties opt for arbitration to essentially do away with the traditional court formalities and ironically the pressure of procedural compliance was reinstated by NN Global 2. Reading in stamping, registration and other procedural formalities were undermining Section 7, ACA. To solve this conundrum, the SC in, In Re: The Interplay, has overruled NN Global 2. In effect, the termination of the underlying contract will not render an arbitration agreement inoperative in line with the separability presumption. The Court has ruled in favour of applying separability and held that “The above position of law is contrary to the separability presumption which treats an arbitration agreement as separate from the underlying contract”. THE DOCTRINE OF COMPETENCE – COMPETENCE The presumption of separability compliments the doctrine of competence-competence. While the former ensures that the validity of the underlying contract does not affect the jurisdiction of the Tribunal , the latter limits the jurisdiction of courts in this regard. The Doctrine of Competence – Competence has both positive and negative connotations to it. The positive aspect upholds the parties’ autonomy in choosing the arbitrator to resolve their disputes and deters them from instituting suits at courts delaying the arbitral process. The negative aspect carries the same ratio but from the perspective of courts. It suggests that the courts should refrain from entertaining challenges to jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal before the arbitrators themselves have had the opportunity to do so. As much as it is recognized that the judicial machinery renders its essential support to the process of arbitration, the paradox of arbitration seeking to release itself from the clutches of the judiciary persists. To this, the courts have consistently sustained the statement of object and reasons of the ACA being to minimize judicial intervention in arbitration proceedings and respect party autonomy to settle through arbitration and not litigation. In this judgment, the Apex court dealt with the question of whether a tribunal can effectively exercise its jurisdiction to settle the claims between the parties if the stamp duty is unpaid on the underlying instrument. Arguments to the contrary were made stating that the credibility of the court rested on the foundation that negated expediency, viewing the Apex court as a means and ends institution. Further, it was contended that the court did not possess appropriate jurisdiction to rule on the matter. CJI Chandrachud and Justice Kaul remarked on the large ramifications of the issue awaiting an appropriate case to decide and held, upon applying the doctrine of competence-competence, that the arbitral tribunal must have the first opportunity to decide on the issue of stamping. The Apex court whilst agreeing to stamping being a revenue related issue, categorically held that it is a curable problem. While, drawing a clear distinction between the words ‘examination’ and ‘ruling’ as used in Section 11and Section 16 of the ACA respectively, the court held that the first examination will be undertaken by the arbitrator. This results in thwarting forward the process of arbitration. Thus, In Re: The Interplay has restrained the exercise of powers by the judicial authorities under Section 8 and Section 11 of ACA emphasizing the legislative intent behind Section 5 of the ACA. CONCLUSION It is a well settled law that the ACA is no longer viewed as an ouster statute but one which favours the remedy of arbitration so as to de-clog the extremely burdened civil courts. This underlying jurisprudence has been used to support the arguments involving the doctrine of separability and the doctrine of competence-competence. In a judgment whilst commenting on the arbitration proceedings under the 1940 Act, it was noted that the challenge to arbitral proceedings in Courts have made “lawyers laugh and legal philosophers weep”. In a more recent judgment, it was observed that several applications under Section 11 of the Act were decided and disposed of after a period of four years, which defeated the purpose of the amended Act. Amidst continuing state of affairs, a refreshing change was seen in a dissenting opinion, by way of holding that non-stamping or insufficient stamping of the substantive contract or instrument would not render the arbitration agreement non-existent in law and unenforceable, for the purpose of referring a matter to arbitration. This judgment in In Re: The Interplay takes a step forward in making India a pro-arbitration hub. The authors are penultimate-year law students at Jindal Global Law School. [1] ranganathanabhinaya@gmail.com [2] akshitagrover@gmail.com

* Sarthak Srivastava INTRODUCTION Emergency arbitration is a concept in India that allows parties involved in a dispute to seek urgent interim relief from an arbitral tribunal before the commencement of formal arbitration proceedings. It provides a mechanism for parties to preserve their rights and interests, particularly in situations where time is of the essence. In India, emergency arbitration is governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, of 1996. Though, the Act does not expressly provide for Emergency Arbitration, it was contemplated that it would be introduced in the 2015 Amendment after the suggestions of the 246th Law Commission Report to introduce the coverage of Emergency Arbitration under Section 2(d) of the Act. However, the legislature did not deem it fit to introduce such a definition under Section 2(d) and the Act holds lacunae in the definition of Emergency Arbitration, at present. Despite such express recognition, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Amazon .com NV Investment Holdings LLC v. FutureRetail Ltd. & Ors.i upheld the award passed by the Emergency Arbitrator and held that such arbitration proceedings seated in India are enforceable under Section 17(2) as an interim order of the tribunal under the Act. However, there still exists an ambiguity regarding the nature, orders and awards in Emergency Arbitration leaving room for further developments. The Act empowers parties to approach the arbitral tribunal for interim measures that are necessary to prevent imminent harm or to preserve the status quo pending the resolution of the dispute. These interim measures can include injunctions, asset freezes, or the preservation of evidence. The process of emergency arbitration typically involves the appointment of an emergency arbitrator who is appointed by an institution or agreed upon by the parties and must act independently and impartially. The process further follows the filing by the requesting in a written application for such proceedings to the arbitral tribunal. The Emergency Arbitratorenjoys broad powers and is expected to deliver its decision in a matter of days. The key advantage of emergency arbitration is its speed and efficiency. It allows parties to obtain urgent relief within a short timeframe, often within a matter of days, as compared to traditional court proceedings which can be time consuming and costly. Emergency arbitration also provides parties with a level of confidentiality, as the proceedings are not public. Despite having several advantages, Emergency Arbitration comes with several challenges as well. The lack of recognition under Indian Law makes enforceability more complex in the context of different governments. Moreover, it is still in its infancy in India and a lot of developments are required in the domain of Emergency Arbitration for its proper enforcement. Furthermore, the appointment of the Emergency Arbitrator is not well-defined and such lack of a well-drafted appointment procedure despite it being an expedited procedure raises concerns regarding the independence and expertise of the arbitrator. It is important to know that the interim relief granted through emergency arbitration is temporary and is subject to review by the main arbitral tribunal once it is constituted. The decision of the emergency arbitrator is binding on the parties and enforceable under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, of 1996. Urgent relief in arbitration proceedings is an essential aspect of the arbitration process, as it allows parties to seek interim measures to protect their rights and interests pending the final resolution of the dispute. The urgency of such relief arises in situations where delay can cause irreparable harm to either of the parties involved. For instance, if a party breaches a contract and threatens to sell the assets that are the subject of the dispute, an urgent interlocutory measure can prevent the asset from being sold and preserve the status quo until the matter is resolved. Thus, Emergency Arbitration holds an important position in the Arbitration domain under Indian disputes but the lack of recognition and enforceability provisions becomes a challenge for a proper Emergency Arbitration setup in India. Recent judicial developments have tilted towards upholding the enforceability of orders passed by the Emergency Arbitrator, but still, there are several complexities that need to be taken care of. UNDERSTANDING EMERGENCY ARBITRATION The purpose of emergency arbitration is to provide parties with an effective and expedited mechanism to protect their rights and interests in urgent situations to avoid imminent danger. In Raffles Design International India Pvt. Ltd.& Anr. v Educomp Professional Education Ltd.& Ors.,ii the dispute revolved around the termination of a JV Agreement, resulting in the immediate closure of several educational institutions and causing huge financial loss. This case portrays a clear example of the urgency element involved and a factor of irreparable harm which seeks an immediate remedy that was provided by Emergency Arbitration. Emergency arbitration allows parties to obtain swift interim relief, typically within a matter of days, minimizing the potential consequences of delay. It offers a valuable tool that can help ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the arbitral process, allowing parties to maintain the status quo and safeguard their positions until the dispute is resolved. THE EMERGENCE OF EMERGENCY ARBITRATION IN INDIA The evolution of emergency arbitration in India can be attributed to various factors, including the need to address time-sensitive and urgent matters that arise during the arbitration process. Recognizing the significance of emergency relief, Indian courts and institutions have gradually embraced and adopted emergency arbitration provisions. One of the key developments in this regard was the decision of the Indian Supreme Court in the case of Bharat Aluminium Co. v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services Inc.iii In this case, the Supreme Court specifically acknowledged the concept of interim measures and stated that it is compatible with Indian arbitration law. This landmark decision provided the necessary framework for the recognition of emergency arbitration in India. Further, there have been several developments acknowledging the concept of Emergency Arbitration in India. In Raffles Design International India Pvt. Ltd.& Anr. v Educomp Professional Education Ltd.& Ors.,iv Delhi HC stated that parties had to take recourse to section 9 of the A&C Act as the order passed by the emergency arbitrator could not be enforced under section 17 of the A&C Act, as section 17 was not available in a foreign-seated arbitration. This was not because of the non-applicability of Emergency Arbitration in India rather on foreign seated arbitration regime. Further, in Ashwani Minda v U-Shin,v Delhi HC observed that a court shall not intervene if an emergency arbitrator has already been appointed. Moreover, the Court observed that the characteristics of an order passed by the Emergency Arbitrator are the same as an interim order passed by an arbitral tribunal. Institutions such as Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA), and the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR) have all incorporated emergency arbitration provisions allow parties to seek urgent interim relief before the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, providing a more efficient and effective mechanism for addressing urgent interim relief before the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, providing a more efficient and effective mechanism for addressing urgent matters in Indian Arbitration.vi Moreover, Indian Arbitration has taken a pro-arbitration approach when it comes to the enforcement of emergency arbitration awards. They have recognized and enforced emergency arbitration awards, treating them as interim measures that are capable of enforcement under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act.vii The recognition and adoption of emergency arbitration provisions by Indian arbitration institutions and the favourable approach of Indian courts signal a growing acceptance and understanding of the importance of emergency relief in arbitration proceedings. This development has not only provided parties with an efficient and effective means of obtaining urgent relief, but it has also enhanced India’s reputation as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. Emergency Arbitration has now been recognized globally, by several institutions such as the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the Swiss Chambers Arbitration Institution (SCAI), the Mexico City National Chamber of Commerce (CANACO), and the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI) all provide for both expedited formation of the tribunal as well as for the EA. But India still lacks legal recognition as the Act governing Arbitrations in India does not expressly provide for EA. Though rules under DIAC and MIAC have incorporated provisions for Emergency Arbitration, there is still a long way to go. RECENT INVOLVEMENT OF EMERGENCY ARBITRATION IN INDIA In recent years, there have been several notable cases in India where emergency arbitration has been utilized. In the case of Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC v. Future Retail Limited,viii one of India’s largest conglomerates. Amazon sought emergency arbitration to prevent Future Group from proceeding with a multi-billion dollar deal with Reliance Retail. Amazon claimed that the deal violated its pre-existing agreement with Future Group, and sought urgent relief to protect its rights. This case demonstrates the significance of emergency arbitration in contractual disputes, particularly in the retail sector. Issue 1: Whether an "award" delivered by an Emergency Arbitrator under the SIAC Rules can be said to be an order under section 17(1) of the Arbitration Act? The Supreme Court observed that party autonomy is paramount and hence when the parties had agreed to abide by SIACRules, then contesting such rules is irrelevant. Further, the SIAC Rules provide similar law as provided under Sections 9 and 17 of the Act, in the context of Emergency Arbitration. Thus, the award passed by an Emergency Arbitrator can be considered as an interim order under section 17(1)of the Act. Issue 2: Whether an Order passed by the High Court under Section 17(2) of the Arbitration Act for enforcement of an award passed by an Emergency Arbitrator is appealable? The Supreme Court observed that orders passed under Section 17(1) are appealable under Section 37 of the Act, rendering orders passed under Section 17(2) as non-appealable. Apart from the case, emergency arbitration has been prominently utilized in industries such as construction, infrastructure, and energy. Disputes in these sectors often involve complex contractual arrangements and time-sensitive projects. Emergency arbitration provides parties with a means to seek immediate relief to prevent irreparable harm or secure project completion. In the construction industry, disputes frequently arise over issues such as payment delays, performance issues, or termination of contracts. Emergency arbitration allows parties to address these disputes promptly and ensure the continuity of construction projects. In the infrastructure sector, emergency arbitration has been utilized in disputes related to project delays, cost overruns, and breach of contract issues. Given the long-term nature of infrastructure projects and the significant investments involved, parties seek emergency relief to mitigate potential financial losses and protect their interests. The energy sector, including oil and gas, power and renewables, has also witnessed the utilization of emergency arbitration. Disputes in this sector often revolve around issues. Emergency arbitration enables parties to secure interim relief to safeguard their commercial interests and ensure the uninterrupted provision of essential services. EFFECTIVENESS OF EMERGENCY ARBITRATION IN INDIA Emergency arbitration is an effective mechanism where immediate action is needed to prevent irreparable harm and preserve the status quo. It offers several benefits, including speedy resolution of disputes and the ability to protect parties from suffering irreversible damage. One of the main advantages of emergency arbitration is its ability to quickly resolve urgent disputes. Unlike regular arbitration can be initiated promptly, allowing parties to obtain interim relief within a short timeframe. This is particularly valuable in cases where time is of the essence, such as disputes involving an imminent breach of contract or the potential destruction of evidence. In urgent situations, maintaining the existing state affairs is critical to prevent irreparable harm. Emergency arbitrators can grant interim measures, such as injunctions or asset freezes that preserve the status quo until a final resolution can be reached through regular arbitration proceedings or litigation. This helps to avoid irreversible damage, such as dissipation of assets or the destruction of evidence that may impact the final outcome of the dispute.ix CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS OF EMERGENCY ARBITRATION IN INDIA While emergency arbitration offers numerous advantages, parties may face certain challenges when opting for this mechanism. These challenges include difficulties in enforcing emergency arbitral awards in certain jurisdictions, potential limitations on the availability of emergency relief, and concerns regarding the balance between speed and due process. One significant challenge that parties may encounter is the enforcement of emergency arbitral awards in domestic courts. For example, in India, the enforceability of emergency awards in domestic courts is not explicitly provided in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 this lack of clarity regarding the enforcement of emergency awards could pose challenges for parties seeking immediate relief through emergency arbitration.x Furthermore, the availability of emergency relief may be limited in certain jurisdictions. Parties may face obstacles in obtaining interim measures to preserve the status quo or prevent irreparable harm. Another concern in emergency arbitration is striking a balance between speed and due process. While the primary objective of emergency arbitration is to offer swift resolution to urgent disputes, parties must also be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present their case and adequately respond to the claim made against them. Speed should not come at the expense of the due process rights. Therefore, it is important for emergency arbitrators to ensure that the parties have a fair and meaningful opportunity to be heard and the arbitral proceedings maintain the necessary procedural safeguards. REGULATORY       FRAMEWORK          AND   INSTITUTIONAL    SUPPORT  FOR EMERGENCY ARBITRATION IN INDIA In India, the regulatory framework governing emergency arbitration is primarily provided by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, as amended in 2015. Under the Act, emergency Arbitration is recognized as a valid mechanism for parties seeking interim relief. Section 9 of the Act defines an “interim measure” as any temporary relief sought by a party before the arbitral tribunal has been constituted. In addition to the legislative framework, major arbitral institutions in India, such as the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA), the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), and the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR), have formulated rules and guidelines to regulate emergency arbitration proceedings. The MCIA Rules provide for emergency arbitration, allowing parties to seek interim relief before the tribunal is constituted. The DIAC, through its guidelines on emergency arbitration, provides detailed instructions on initiating the emergency arbitration process and appointing an emergency arbitration mechanism. It is important to note that while the legislative framework and institutional rules provide guidance for emergency arbitration, there have been no specific changes or updates in India directly impacting emergency arbitration proceedings. For instance in Raffles Design International India Pvt. Ltd. v. Educomp Professional Education Ltd.,xi TheDelhi HC observed that the Act does not provide any provision which explicitly provides for enforcing interim orders passed by a foreign seated arbitral tribunal. Thus, the order passed by the Emergency Arbitrator in the instant case was due to no provision providing enforceability of foreign seated interim orders. However, the court opined that an Indian Court can adjudicate such proceedings and pass interim orders under section 9 that might be similar in context to Emergency Arbitration. Moreover, in Avitel Post Studioz Ltd. v. HSBS PI Holdings (Mauritius) Ltd.xii The Bombay HC granted the same interim reliefs as passed by an Emergency Arbitrator. The Court held, “merely because, in the present case such emergency or interim awards have been made by the Arbitral Tribunal at Singapore, that would make no difference, particularly when it comes to the determination of the jurisdiction of the Indian Courts to grant interim measures by resort to section 9 of theAct.” However, it is worth mentioning that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 2019, introduces various amendments aimed at promoting institutional arbitration, providing more transparency and expediting the arbitration process, which indirectly impacts emergency arbitration proceedings as well. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, as amended in 2015, allows parties to seek interim relief before the constitution of the full arbitration panel. Major arbitral institutions in India have also established rules and guidelines specifically addressing emergency arbitration, and recent amendments in the arbitration law indirectly promote and support the emergency arbitration mechanism.xiii FUTURE PROSPECTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Emergency arbitration is a nascent concept in India, with its first introduction in the 2015 amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Despite its novelty, it has gained popularity as a faster and more efficient dispute resolution mechanism compared to traditional methods. The future of emergency arbitration in India looks bright as more parties opt for this form of dispute resolution. However, certain areas need attention to improve the emergency arbitration process, it is paramount to ensure greater clarity in the Indian arbitration laws concerning emergency arbitration. This will help the parties to be aware of the nuances of the emergency arbitration process and choose it as a viable option for resolving disputes. One possible solution to address the potential challenges and obstacles in the emergency arbitration process is to establish an institutionalized emergency arbitration process. This would require the enactment of the laws and regulations that specifically address the logistics and procedural issues involved in carrying out emergency arbitrations. This would also improve the credibility of the emergency arbitration process as a valid dispute resolution mechanism in India. Another recommendation could be to use technology to streamline the emergency arbitration process. This includes the implementation of an online emergency arbitration platform that offers remote hearings, document sharing, and communication between the parties and arbitrators. The platform could provide real-time document sharing and a virtual hearing system that eliminates the need for the physical presence of the parties thus reducing costs and avoiding procedural delays. Emergency arbitration in India has immense potential as a fast and efficient form of dispute resolution. By enacting new laws, and regulations, and investing in technology to streamline the process, it will be possible to address existing challenges, reinforce its advantages and maximize its potential. CONCLUSION In conclusion, emergency arbitration has emerged as a critical mechanism globally where there is imminent harm and huge financial loss, and to rectify such obnoxious scenarios, Emergency Arbitration is the tool. Though the legislative wisdom in India has not legally recognized the concept but the judicature wing has acknowledged this thriving tool. The mechanism, characterized by its speed, efficiency, and confidentiality, has become a game-changer in the Indian dispute resolution landscape. The evolution of emergency arbitration in India can be seen strengthening its roots from various judicial pronouncements. The founding stone was laid down in the famous case of Bharat Aluminium Co. v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical ServicesInc.,xiv wherein interim order was acknowledged. In the case of Raffles Design,xv the Court did not deny the enforceability of Emergency Arbitration as a whole but observed that foreign seated award of an EA is not enforceable. Furthermore, in Amazon vs. Future Group case,xvi the Supreme Court specifically acknowledged the concept of Emergency Arbitration and observed that its award can be enforceable under Section 17(1) of the Act, as similar to an interim order Furthermore, institutional recognition to EA has also been awarded, like MCIA, DIAC, and ICADR, haveadopted rules and guidelines to regulate emergency arbitration proceedings, enhancing its accessibility and credibility. Emergency arbitration has proven to be a vital tool in preserving the status quo, preventing irreparable harm, andprotecting parties’ interests in these cases. However, challenges persist, including the enforcement of emergency arbitral awards and the need to strike a balance between speed and due process. To further enhance the effectiveness of emergency arbitration in India, it is essential to address these challenges and streamline the process. Additionally, there is no provision regarding appointment of Emergency Arbitrator, and there is a settled principle of law, i.e. justice hurried is justice buried. Therefore, it is important to exercise such appointment with caution as it imparts trust among the parties. Looking ahead, the future of emergency arbitration in India is promising. Clarity in arbitration laws concerningemergency arbitration, coupled with institutionalized processes and technological advancements can foster its growth and ensure that parties continue to benefit from efficiency and expediency. Maintaining a panel of Emergency Arbitrators along-with a focused wing for Emergency Arbitration within existing Arbitral Tribunals can provide for a swift and focused solution to time-sensitive disputes. Moreover, utilizing technological resources such as video-conferencing to ensure attendance and further use of AI can help in contract analysis and case management. These steps can further improve a lot in Emergency Arbitration domain as it will help surely impact increasing speed and efficiency while reducing cost involved in procedures. As India’s dispute resolution landscape evolves, emergency arbitration will likely play an increasingly pivotal role in safeguarding parties rights and interests in situations requiring imminent help. * Sarthak Srivastava is a Fifth-year (B.A.LL.B) student at Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida. Email – srivastavasarthak2207@gmail.com i (2022) 1 SCC 209 ii (2016) SCC Online Del 5521 iii 2012(9)SCC648 iv (2016) SCC Online Del 5521 v (2020) SCC Online Del 721. vi J. H. Jung, Clayton Arlen Looney, Joseph S. Valacich. "Fine-Tuning the Human-Computer Interface: Verbal versusKeyboard Input in an Idea Generation Context" , 2007 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on SystemSciences (HICSS'07), 2007 vii https://www.mondaq.com/india/arbitration--dispute-resolution/1224786/emergency-arbitrations--an-indianperspective#:~:text=The%20%5BIndian%5D%20Arbitration%20and%20Conciliation,an%20emergency%20award %20in%20India. viii 2021 SCC OnLine SC 623 ix Zia Mody, Aditya Vikram Bhat, Priyanka Shetty. "7. India" , Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2023 x Deyan Draguiev. "Interim Measures in CrossBorder Civil and Commercial Disputes", Springer Science and BusinessMedia LLC, 2023 xi (2016) SCC Online Del 5521 xii (2020) SCC Online 656. xiii https://arbitratorananya.wordpress.com/2020/04/21/enforcement-of-foreign-emergency-awards-during-covid- 19-in-india/ xiv (2012) 9 SCC 552 xv (2016) SCC Online Del 5521. xvi (2022) 1 SCC 209

Yash Tiwari & Ayush Bajpai[1] Introduction The efficacy of any business contract is contingent on the assumption, that any of the parties breaching the contract shall be held liable in law for the breach, and it shall be within the powers of the aggrieved party to claim the damages for the same, otherwise, the whole objective of the business contract will become redundant. With the arising uncertainties in the contemporary business world and to eliminate the probability of protracted legislation, the contracts contain the clause for liquidated damages. Although in both the scenarios of liquidated and unliquidated damages, there isn't much difference, while the court or arbitrator is adjudicating the claim of damages. However, with the recent judicial precedents, it can be inferred that in the cases where it is not possible with the available evidence to quantify or prove the damages therein, the court shall consider granting the specified stipulated damages. Since in most of the contracts, arbitration acts as the preliminary adjudicating authority of the disputes between the parties, therefore the article also analyzes the authority of the tribunal to evaluate the adequate evidence and its power to grant damages. Law of damages in an arbitration proceeding: The law of damages in any agreement is governed by Sections 73 and 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 i.e. the general rule of damages. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 does not have any specific clause governing the damages claimed under the arbitral proceedings. The Apex court in General Manager Northern Railways and Ors. vs. Sarvesh Chopra, held that the jurisdiction of the arbitrator to award the compensation is limited to the terms of the contract. Therefore, the arbitrator is bound by the contractual clauses, and in the absence of the same the general law is followed, however, none of the clauses shall be against the general law/public policy, as the same will be void under sec 23 of the act. Sections 73 and 74 of the Indian Contract Act, acts as a guiding factor for the arbitrator to adjudicate upon the issue of damages under the arbitral proceeding. Section 73 provides the general rule of damages, that the party is entitled to claim damages on the breach of agreement by the other parties, however section 74 of the act specifies a certain amount or a method concerning the quantification of damages on the breach of contract. Section 74 i.e. Liquidated damages stipulates a pre-estimate of loss in a contract, however where the idea behind the stipulated amount in an agreement is just to secure the performance of the parties then that is termed as a penalty. The Apex Court in Maharashtra State Electricity Board vs. Sterlite Industries (India), held that under section 74 it is open to the contracting parties to specify a certain procedure for computation of damages and specify the pre-estimate of loss that will be suffered by the parties on the breach of contract or, specify a fixed penalty on the breach. The principle idea behind the liquidated damages is to avoid undesirable and protracted litigation between the parties and give effect to the principle of business efficacy. Need of evidence for Quantification of damages The legal maxim Onus Probandi dictates that the party making an affirmative claim must prove it. Section 102 of Evidence Act lays down that “the burden of proof in a suit or proceeding lies on that person who would fail if no evidence at all were given on either side.” Therefore, the onus lies on the claimant to present the reasonable evidence, although the presence of an exclusionary clause or any stipulated damage in a contract minimizes this onus, however, it does not exclude it altogether. It has been settled law, corroborated by a catena of judgments that liquidated damages are not much different from unliquidated damages as in both scenarios, the onus is on the claimant to prove the breach and damages claimed. The difference lies in the nature and necessity of the need for cogent evidence, to quantify and prove the amount of damages. The apex court in Oil & Natural Gas Commission v. Saw Pipes Ltd after a conjoint reading of sections 73 and 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, held that in the circumstances where it is impossible to quantify the damages due to lack of evidence of actual loss, in those circumstances the arbitral tribunal shall award the stipulated Liquidated damages. Further, recently the division bench of the Delhi High Court in Sudershan Kumar Vs. Vinod Seth and the Supreme Court in M/S UNIBROS v. All INDIA RADIO reiterated that liquidated damages cannot be awarded in the absence of proof of the actual damage/loss, it is the onus of the claimant to prove that firstly, there was a breach of the contract and, secondly that the parties suffered injury due to such breach. Therefore, it can be rightly concluded that the contractual clause stipulating liquidated damages cannot act as an embargo upon the claimant's duty to prove damages with cogent evidence. It is pertinent to note that the basic difference between the abovementioned case laws is that, in the circumstances where the clause for liquidated damages is present and it is not possible to prove or quantify the real damages or loss by the present evidence, therein the court is well within its jurisdiction to award the stipulated liquidated damages based on the proof of actual loss/damage furnished. In cases where the general rule of damage, i.e. section 73 is the guiding factor, in such cases the inability to prove the actual loss by actual evidence goes against the interest of the party claiming damages. Tribunal's Authority: Assessing Evidence for Damages The arbitral tribunal is the Master of quality, quantity and adequacy of the evidence. It is a settled law that even though the law of evidence might not apply to proceedings before an arbitral tribunal, principles of evidence do apply. There are certain basic principles of law of evidence that have to be adhered to even while citing evidence before an arbitral tribunal. The Arbitrator needs to consider the basic laws while assessing and granting any kind of damages/compensation. To appreciate the reasonableness of the evidence the tribunal relies on the basic rule of evidence. The High Court of Delhi in Satluj Vidyut Nigam Ltd v. Jaiprakash Hyundai Consortium, held that the arbitrator, cannot decide the claims of a party based on mathematical calculation/derivations without any actual evidence supporting such claims, by showing the actual amount incurred by the party claiming damages before the tribunal. Further, the nature of the evidence is contingent upon the facts and circumstances of the case and the arbitral tribunal is the master of quality, quantity and adequacy of evidence and the same cannot be reappraised by the Court. Further, the Apex Court has observed that while the quantum of evidence required to accept a claim may be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the arbitrator to decide, if there was no evidence at all and if the arbitrator makes an award of the amount claimed in the claim statement, merely on the basis of the claim statement without anything more, it has to be held that the award on that account would be invalid. Suffice it to say that the entire award under this head is wholly illegal and beyond the jurisdiction of the arbitrator, and wholly unsustainable. Therefore, although the arbitrator is the master of the evidence presented before the tribunal, the tribunal must interpret the adequacy of the evidence reasonably, concerning the general law. Conclusion The legal landscape surrounding damages in business contracts, particularly in the realm of arbitration, is governed by a delicate balance between contractual provisions and general legal principles. The certainty that parties who violate commercial contracts will face consequences for their actions is crucial to their effectiveness. Sections 73 and 74 of the Indian Contract Act set forth the foundation for determining damages; liquidated damages are a tool for pre-estimating losses and averting drawn-out legal disputes. However, recent case law highlights the necessity of evidence to support claims—whether they relate to liquidated or unliquidated damages. The arbitral tribunal has a crucial role in both regulating the flow of evidence and judging what constitutes reasonableness. While the tribunal enjoys discretion in evaluating evidence, it must adhere to basic principles of evidence and ensure claims are supported by cogent proof. Contractual provisions must be taken into account, the burden of proof must be upheld, and the supplied evidence must be reasonably evaluated. Although the tribunal holds authority over evidence, its decisions are not immune to scrutiny. Reasoned decision-making and respect to legal principles are essential, and courts retain the right to intervene if awards are ruled erroneous or beyond the tribunal’s jurisdiction. Essentially, even though the arbitrator has a great deal of power while assessing the evidence, the arbitrator must act within the bounds of accepted legal norms to maintain the legitimacy and fairness of the arbitration process. [1] Yash Tiwari is a 4th year student of RMLNLU, Lucknow. Ayush Bajpai is a 3rd Year Student of RMLNLU, Lucknow.

Anubhav Patidar[1] and Sarthika Singhal [2] Introduction A seven-judge Constitutional Bench of Hon’ble Supreme Court in its recent judgment in Re: Interplay Between Arbitration Agreements Under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 and the Indian Stamp Act 1899 (‘Re: Interplay’), settled the debate surrounding unstamped arbitration agreements to hold that, notwithstanding that the underlying contract is unstamped, arbitration agreements would not be rendered void or void ab initio or unenforceable. However, unstamped or inadequately stamped agreements would not be admissible in evidence under Section 35 of the Stamp Act. Backdrop of the Ambiguity The conundrum concerning the admissibility and enforceability of unstamped arbitration agreement arose in a three-judge bench of Supreme Court N. N. Global Mercantile (P) Ltd. v. Indo Unique Flame Ltd (‘NN Global-1’). The Bench overruled its previous ruling in SMS Tea Estates (P) Ltd. v. Chandmari Tea Co. (P) Ltd. and Garware Wall Ropes Ltd. v. Coastal Marine Constructions & Engg. Ltd.  (‘Garware Walls’) and clarified that non-payment of stamp duty on the substantive commercial contract will not render the arbitration agreement unenforceable, invalid or non-existent. It emphasized that the absence of proper stamping on an arbitration agreement could be rectified. However, the conclusions in the Vidya Drolia v. Durga Trading Corpn., (‘Vidya Drolia’) by a coordinate bench upheld the decision in the Garware Walls, and the matter, among other things, arose the issue regarding whether the failure to pay stamp duty on the commercial contract would render the arbitration agreement invalid. By a majority of 3:2, a 5-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India addressed this issue in NN Global-2. The ruling stated that an unstamped instrument, subject to stamp duty and containing an arbitration clause, doesn’t qualify as a legally enforceable contract under Section 2(h) of the Indian Contract Act 1872 (‘Contract Act’). Therefore, it cannot be enforced as per Section 2(g) of the Contract Act. Furthermore, the court held that Sections 33 and the restriction outlined in Section 35 of the Stamp Act 1899 (‘Stamp Act’), applicable to instruments liable for stamp duty under Section 3 of the Stamp Act’s Schedule, would invalidate the arbitration agreement in such a document, unless the instrument is validated in accordance with the Stamp Act. This approach hindered the initiation of arbitration proceedings and the formation of arbitral tribunals. In a recent development, a 5-judge Constitution Bench, in Bhaskar Raju & Brothers v. Dharmaratnakara Rai Bahadur Arcot Narainswamy Mudaliar Chattram Other Charities, expressed doubts about the correctness of NN Global 2. Recognizing the broader repercussions and consequences arising from the majority stance in the NN Global-2 in the appointment of arbitrators under Section 11(6A), the proceedings came before a seven-Judge Bench via curative petition. Deconstructing Re: Interplay Before delivering the operative part of the judgment, the Hon’ble Bench provided clarification on the maintainability of reference of the constitutional question to a seven-judge bench. Connoting the issue to have seminal importance in the field of business and commerce in the country, the Bench validated the reference and decided the issue to be left open on facts. The Bench mandated a change in the cause title to: “In Re: Interplay between the arbitration agreements under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 and the Indian Stamp Act 1899,” to highlight the core focus on the relationship and interaction between arbitration agreements as per the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 and the stipulations outlined in the Indian Stamp Act of 1899. Doctrine of separability and competence-competence The Bench encapsulated the concept of separability presumption harmonizing with the Kompetenz-Kompetnz doctrine underlying Section 16 of the Arbitration Act. Accordingly, an arbitration agreement would stand independently, unaffected by the legality, invalidity, or termination of the overarching contract. Not only does the doctrine upholds the validity of an arbitration agreement but also empowers the tribunal to assert jurisdiction, decide on its own authority, and validate the arbitration agreement’s existence amidst challenges to the underlying contract’s validity. In a prior ruling, the Supreme Court in NN Global-2 declined to invoke this doctrine within the framework of Sections 33 and 35 of the Stamp Act. Resolving Dilemma between inadmissibility and voidness The Court drew a distinction between inadmissibility and voidness in law. In accordance with Section 2(g) of the Contracts Act, agreements unenforceable by law is said to be void. However, the admissibility of a document revolves around whether it can be introduced in a legal proceeding and whether the court can rely upon it. In essence, while an agreement may be devoid of legal standing and unenforceable, it could still hold relevance as admissible evidence in a court of law. Here, it is important to note that, Section 35 of the Stamp Act renders a document inadmissible and not void. Instruments chargeable with duty, i.e., if they are not properly stamped or unstamped, are only inadmissible not void. Furthermore, Section 42(2) emphasizes that duly stamped instruments are admissible in evidence. This means that the document retains its legal validity but cannot be admitted as evidence in court proceedings unless the stamp duty deficiency is rectified. Unlike void agreements, for which no procedure exists to cure their invalidity, the Stamp Act offers a framework for rectifying the deficiency in stamp duty payments, thereby allowing the document to regain admissibility. Therefore, Bench in Re: Interplay held that non-payment of stamp duty is a curable defect and thereby overruled the judgment in NN-Global 2 which blurred the vital distinction between enforceability and admissibility. Moreover, the Bench clarified the position established in Vidya Drolia, which inaccurately asserted that, following the 2019 Amendment Act, Section 11(6A) would no longer apply. Consequently, a differentiation arises between the term 'validity' found in Section 8 and the term 'existence' in Section 11 of the Arbitration Act. Section 11(6A) obligates the referring court to assess solely the existence of the arbitration agreement and is prohibited from delving into the agreement's validity based on stamping. Reconciling Arbitration v. Revenue Next, the Hon’ble Court was faced with a challenge to reconcile the Arbitration Act, aimed at ensuring an effective arbitration process with minimal court intervention, and the Stamp Act, focused on state revenue. Attempting to uphold the functionality and efficiency of both laws, the Court held that: I. The Arbitration Act will take precedence in matters concerning arbitration agreements, as it is well-established legal principle that a general law must yield to a special law. Additionally, Section 5 of the Arbitration Act contains a non-obstante clause, asserting legislative intent to limit judicial interference during arbitration by prioritizing its provisions over other concurrent laws. II. The appointment of an arbitral tribunal will not by itself validate an agreement in which arbitration clause is contained. The legitimate concerns regarding stamp duty revenue are not defeated because the arbitral tribunal retains jurisdiction to function within the framework provided by the Stamp Act. After the arbitral tribunal is appointed, it can impound the agreement under the Stamp Act’s Section 33 and collect evidence with parties’ consent as per Section 35. This upholds the competence-competence principle, ensuring arbitration remains a swift alternative to lengthy court proceedings. III. The essence of the Stamp Act is preserved as the applicable duty must be settled prior to making the concerned agreement admissible and before the dispute between the involved parties is adjudicated. In this process, Courts uphold a policy of minimal interference (as per Section 5 of the Arbitration Act), a prima facie standard (as stipulated in Sections 8 and 11 of the Arbitration Act), and align with the Stamp Act's objective. This approach aims to prevent delays arising from technicalities that could impede dispute resolution while safeguarding the interests of revenue. The Bench, further highlighted Arbitral Autonomy and notion of Judicial Non-Interference as fundamental pillars within the dynamic realm of arbitration law. The principles encapsulate the freedom granted to parties involved in an arbitration agreement, empowering them to confer upon the arbitral tribunal the authority to resolve potential disputes between them. At its core, they seek to honor the genuine intentions of parties by steering clear of the constraints posed by local judicial biases. Concluding Remarks In conclusion, the recent Supreme Court judgment marks a pivotal departure from the prior NN Global 2 scenario. The NN Global 2 ruling had cast an additional burden on courts, causing setbacks in arbitrator appointments and tarnishing India’s reputation as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. The reversal in Re: The Interplay is a welcome stride forward, reinstating the original intent of the Arbitration Act to furnish a swift remedy and endorsing arbitration as the preferred dispute resolution mechanism. This pro-arbitration stance not only dispels uncertainties surrounding unstamped or insufficiently stamped arbitration agreements but also aligns India with global arbitration norms. The judgment ensures that stamping issues won’t impede courts’ exercise of powers under Sections 8 and 11 of the Arbitration Act, fostering a more streamlined approach. The competence-competence principle receives renewed emphasis, underscoring that stamp duty objections should be addressed by the arbitral tribunal once constituted, rather than prematurely by the courts. The ramifications of the 7-Judge Judgment extend to institutional arbitration, rectifying the oversight of NN Global 2 regarding the authority of arbitral institutions to appoint arbitrators. This rectification fortifies the framework of institutional arbitration, addressing longstanding challenges and promoting procedural efficiency. In practical terms, the judgment empowers arbitral tribunals to ascertain the fate of unstamped or inadequately stamped arbitration agreements, even authorizing them to impound such agreements if necessary. This shift triggers a plethora of questions concerning the adequacy of stamp duty paid, potentially impacting the efficiency of arbitral proceedings. The arbitral ecosystem must swiftly adapt to this reality by arming itself to adeptly handle these matters. As stakeholders navigate this new legal landscape, it becomes crucial to recognize the delicate equilibrium achieved by the court. The intersection of arbitration and stamping laws, once a source of ambiguity, is now a terrain of legal clarity. It is a testament to the judiciary’s commitment to fostering a robust and efficient dispute resolution framework while safeguarding the interests of all parties involved. [1]Anubhav Patidar is a 4th Year Student pursuing B.B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. (anubhav.patidar585@nmims.edu.in) [2]Sarthika Singhal is a 3rd Year Student pursuing B.A. LL. B at Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University. (sarthikasinghal@dsnlu.ac.in)

This article was originally published on the HNLU CCLS Blog on November 23, 2023 (find here). Aarya Parihar* The role of a lawyer is extremely crucial in an arbitration proceeding. The right to effective legal representation of one’s own choice is specifically recognized in various international instruments, like Article 14 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 6 European Convention on Human Rights. Such a right is equally important in investor-State arbitration proceedings, where it may form part of the due process expectations of the parties to the proceedings with serious transgressions from the principle even may potentially constituting a ground to challenge the award itself. The ICSID Convention, Rules, and Regulations do not expressly address the authority of ICSID Tribunals to permit the withdrawal of legal counsel or to compel their continued participation in the proceedings (against their wishes). This post discusses the authority of ICSID Tribunals to exclude or require the presence of particular counsel in a dispute. The post then discusses the existing arbitral decisions on this issue to examine the contours of ICSID Tribunals’ powers in relation to these matters. Do ICSID Tribunals Have the Power to Remove/Exclude Counsel? ICSID Tribunals are formed to resolve treaty disputes between contracting parties. Every dispute has its own separate Tribunal with separate procedural rules agreed by the disputing parties. Arbitration’s inherent nature of being party-centric, where the autonomy of parties is given primacy leads to divergent procedural practices. Additionally, the non-binding nature or lack of precedential character of ICSID awards over other ICSID Tribunals leads to differing awards. Thus, it is essential that before moving to ICSID Tribunals, assistance shall be taken from the federal courts of the United States who have often used their power to decide upon the issue of counsel resignation. Generally, the US Courts look for a good cause, which depends upon the facts and circumstances of every case. Simply put, there is no straitjacket formula to when a counsel can legally stop their representation. It, hugely and majorly, depends upon the peculiar factual matrix of every case and the application of mind by the judge presiding over it. In the realm of ICSID, only a few Tribunals were called upon to decide upon the issue of counsel resignation or removal of counsel. Five of the publicly available awards are from Hrvatska Tribunal, Rompetrol Tribunal, Edmond Khudyan Tribunal, Fraport Tribunal, and Theodore David Einarsson Tribunal. These five orders from five different Tribunals delve into the issue of removal of counsel. In all these five decisions, the Tribunal found its power to remove counsel under Article 44 of the ICSID Convention, which provides for residuary power to the Tribunals. It empowers the Tribunals to decide upon any question of procedure which is not explicitly covered under the ICSID Convention, Rules, and Regulations. Due to the heavy amount of cross-referencing/quoting done in these decisions, it is important to discuss all of them separately and conjointly. The post attempts to cull out only the important dictum from these decisions, which is required to facilitate analysis in the present article. Hrvatska Tribunal In the Hrvatska award, the removal of counsel was warranted because of his apparent connection with one of the arbitrators, which might have caused bias. The Tribunal found that the right to effective representation is pitted against the right to effective and unbiased proceedings. After due deliberation, the Tribunal found itself empowered to rule on this issue by virtue of Article 44 of the ICSID Convention. Rompetrol Tribunal The Respondent in the Rompetrol decision cited the Hrvatska decision as the sole authority to buttress their argument regarding ICSID Tribunals’ authority to exclude counsel from the proceedings. The Tribunal found that it has inherent power to exclude counsels under Article 44 of the ICSID Convention but refused to exercise the same in the present dispute. According to this Tribunal, this power should only be used in exceptionally uncommon circumstances, where the integrity of the whole proceeding is in question/dispute. Edmond and Fraport Tribunals In the decision rendered in Edmond dispute also the Tribunal reiterated that it has the power to exclude participation of counsel under Article 44 of the ICSID Convention. In this case, both parties agreed to this power of the Tribunal without any disagreements. The Tribunal emphasised once again on the requirement of using this power sparingly and only in certain circumstances. It should be used only to protect the integrity and fairness of the proceedings, and to ensure equality of the parties. The Tribunal heavily quoted from the Fraport decision, which also reached similar conclusion. The Fraport Tribunal also imposed the necessary contours of “ensuring fair conduct of the proceedings” while exercising its power under Article 44 of the ICSID Convention. Theodre Einarsson Tribunal Another important decision in this aspect is of the Theodore Einarsson Tribunal, where the Tribunal while deliberating on removal of a counsel outlined that the ICSID Tribunals do not have the power to police the compliance of counsels with their deontological or ethical mandates imposed by any local code/rule. It reasoned that since the issue of removal attacks the core of the fairness of proceedings and thereby a mandate of ICSID Tribunal. The Contours of the Power of ICSID Tribunals to Control Representation of Counsels The Tribunals in all the above-quoted disputes have reasoned that the power to remove counsel is exercised to ensure the fairness and integrity of the proceedings. In both of the decisions in Fraport and Theodore, the Tribunals refused to look into the counsel’s deontological or ethical mandate. They found it outside the purview of their authority, and a question that is to be decided by local or regional courts. It can be understood that the ICSID Tribunals have been reluctant to rule on anything else apart from simply the participation of a counsel. The Author believes that the power to exclude also includes the power to include counsel by overriding the choice of the parties. One important aspect to highlight is the conditions or situations where a counsel can be removed from the ongoing proceedings. Ruling on Counsel’s request for removal The five above-referenced awards did not concern any situation where the Tribunal was required to address a counsel’s request to resign. In almost all of them, there was some kind of bias or conflict between the challenged counsel and an arbitrator. There may arise a situation where the counsel wishes to resign, whether on a voluntary basis or per the desire of an either party that wants their counsel to discontinue representation. In these scenarios, as already stated, the courts generally use their wisdom to decide based on the peculiar facts and circumstances of every case. Generally, counsels decide to withdraw their representation when there is a breakdown of any attorney-client relationship. In simpler words, it is when the attorney has lost faith in his client and their case or vice versa. It is breakdown to such an extent where the representation would only harm the case of the client. Also, it is important to note that the withdrawal should not cause undue or unreasonable delay to the proceeding. This also means that there should be no prejudice caused to any of the parties involved from the withdrawal of a Counsel. In the Jean-Bosco trial, the International Criminal Tribunal (hereinafter “ICT”) for Rwanda denied withdrawal/replacement of counsel because of the possibility of undue delay in the proceedings that would cause prejudice to the parties. It was highlighted in the Jean-Bosco decision, that it is extremely essential for a new counsel to acquaint themselves with the facts, documents and figures of the existing case. Sometimes, this process of getting acquainted with everything also causes an undue delay in the proceedings, and the Courts have rejected the withdrawal for this reason. This similar reasoning was also employed by the ICT for Rwanda in the Jean-Bosco Trial to arrive at the decision of rejecting the withdrawal/replacement of counsel. Suggestions and Conclusion There is an apparent dearth of awards and decisions by ICSID Tribunals on the issue of counsel withdrawal/exclusion. The available awards reiterate the similar reasoning applied by the Tribunals in every dispute. There seems to be a well-founded reluctance by ICSID Tribunals to adjudicate over counsel’s withdrawal or exclusion with full vigour. ICSID Tribunals are constituted mainly to resolve the dispute between investors and States. The contours of a Tribunal’s powers are well-defined in ICSID Convention, Rules, and Regulation. Thus, the Tribunal finds itself in a quagmire or conundrum where the chances of overreach exist. In the light of various awards highlighted in this article, it is abundantly clear that the ICSID Tribunals have discovered their inherent power to decide on any question of “procedure” of the dispute flowing from Article 44 of the ICSID Convention. Issues of counsel’s conduct and obligations are not the mandate of ICSID Tribunals. If the Tribunals are given unfettered power to decide upon the issue of counsel’s ethical obligations, it would open a floodgate of proceedings and would further cause delay in proceedings. This would defeat the purpose of arbitration proceedings, where the primary aim is to promote expediency and efficiency. If a further step could be taken, the ICSID Convention should insert an explicit provision defining the power of its Tribunals to decide upon the issue of counsel resignation/removal, in cases of apparent bias/conflict with the arbitrator or irrevocable breakdown of attorney-client relationship. To develop their contours or limits, the Tribunals may take assistance from decision of local courts and also of international tribunals where the issue of counsel resignation has been discussed in length. *Aarya Parihar B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) | Candidate of 2026 Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University.

Digvijay Khatai[1] and Jibisa Janvi Behera[2] I. Introduction On 6th December 2023, the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Justice Manoj Misra and the concurring judgment of Justice PS Narasimha, retained the ‘group of companies’ doctrine in the Indian Jurisprudence. The ruling was pronounced in the appellate decision of Cox and Kings Ltd v. SAP India Pvt Ltd and Anr. (“Cox and Kings II”). Recognized internationally, the theory holds that a non-signatory may be bound by the terms of an arbitration agreement, if it is a member of the same corporate group as the signatory; and all parties to the agreement intend for the non-signatory to be bound by the agreement. Here, a non-signatory party is someone that has not submitted its ‘written signature’ to the agreement, signifying the absence of an ‘express consent’ to be bound by such agreement. Hence, the primary element, by the virtue of which a non-signatory party is bound by an arbitration agreement is the ‘implied consent’ of such party. There have been several Apex Court rulings that have validly recognized and tried incorporating the said doctrine by upholding its various aspects like mutual intention, economic conveniences etc. However, the jurisprudence did not particularly lay down emphasis on the consensual nature of the doctrine. This gap was recently filled by the Cox and Kings (II) judgement. As such, in this article, the authors specifically analyze how a pragmatic approach towards consent played as the ‘x factor’ in the ruling that successfully retained the doctrine in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“The Arbitration Act”). II. Brief Facts In 2010, Cox and Kings Ltd. entered into a Software License Agreement with SAP India Private Ltd. for the development of an e-commerce platform.  In 2015, SAP India recommended ‘the Hybris Solution’ to Cox and Kings as it included several benefits. The Agreement comprised three agreements (in particular, contracts), a Software License Agreement, a Support Agreement, and a Services General Terms of Contract Agreement. Further the Services General Terms of Contract Agreement consisted of an arbitration clause. However, due to failure in implementing the Solution, the Hybris Solution’s contractual framework was terminated in 2016, leading to a demand for a refund of Rs. 45 crores by Cox and Kings Ltd. Failed attempts to resolve the matter led SAP India to invoke arbitration, and it further claimed a payment of Rs. 17 Crores, for wrongful termination of the Contract by the Petitioner. The disagreements remained unresolved. The establishment of an Arbitral Tribunal is noteworthy, particularly in light of the exclusion of the second respondent, “SAP SE GMBH” from the Arbitration Proceedings. In addition, Cox & Kings filed an application pursuant to Section 16 of the 1996 Arbitration & Conciliation Act (the "Act"), arguing that the four agreements together constituted a single, composite transaction. Further, in response to an application filed against the Petitioner under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, the National Company Law Tribunal appointed an Interim Resolution Professional on October 22, 2019. The Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process commenced on November 5, 2019, and NCLT ordered the parties to postpone the arbitration proceedings. Cox & Kings Ltd., this time arraying SAP SE GMBH, sent a second notice of intent to invoke arbitration on November 7, 2019, but SAP India Private Ltd did not reply. Aggrieved, Cox & Kings Ltd. filed an application under Sections 11(6) and l1 (12) (a) of the Arbitration Act with the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, requesting the setting up of an Arbitral Tribunal. In Cox and Kings Limited v. SAP India Private Limited and Another, pronounced by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana on May 06, 2022 (“Cox and Kings (I)"), the former Chief Justice criticized the group of companies’ doctrine applicability in India, raising questions about its basis and emphasizing caution. In contrast, Justice Surya Kant supported the doctrine but referred critical legal questions to a larger bench that read as follows - 1.    Whether the group of companies doctrine should be read into Section 8 of the Act or whether it can exist in Indian jurisprudence independent of any statutory provision; 2.    Whether the group of companies doctrine should continue to be invoked on the basis of the principle of ‘single economic reality’; 3.    Whether the group of companies doctrine should be construed as a means of interpreting implied consent intent to arbitrate between the parties; 4.    Whether the principle of alter ego/and or piercing the corporate veil can alone justify pressing the group of companies doctrine into operation even in the absence of implied consent. The blog limits its scope to the current Cox and Kings 2023 (II) judgment, and hence the issues recognised in the Cox & Kings (I) have only been provided as an advent to the same. III. Issues The principle of ‘privy/ privity of contract’, arising from the Indian Contract Act, 1872, mandates that parties to an agreement are the only entities against whom terms of the agreement can be enforced. This principle primarily stems from the assumption that – it is only the parties – that have consented to the agreement. Nonetheless, consent can be expressed in two forms i.e. implied and expressed. While it is easier to identify express consent that emanates from direct written or oral form, implied consent is inferred from the implicit behavior or conduct of the concerned party. In the case of written agreements, consent is expressed in the form of a signature and the party doing so is also known as the ‘signatory to the agreement’. Here it is also important to maintain the difference between ‘signatory’ and ‘party’ to the arbitration agreement. Similarly, arbitration agreements are agreements between parties of a pre-existing agreement, to submit to arbitration in the event of a future dispute between them. Section 7 of the Arbitration Act governs arbitration agreements in India. Further, sub-section 7(3) of the Arbitration Act recognizes the same in the form of ‘written agreements’ only. The group of companies’ doctrine seeks to bind a non-signatory party by the virtue of its membership in the same group of companies who constitute as a party to the agreement. With the absence of an ‘express consent’ in the form of a signature on behalf of the non-signatory party, the core element that binds such party to the agreement is its ‘implied consent’ to be bound by the arbitration agreement. The deduction of such implied consent is completely based on the facts and circumstance of the case. However, at the same time, “[s]ince consent forms the cornerstone of arbitration, a non-signatory cannot be forcibly made a “party” to an arbitration agreement, as doing so would violate the sacrosanct principles of privity of contract and party autonomy.” (Paragraph 65) Where Section 7 of the Arbitration Act recognizes arbitration agreements in written forms only, a valid question arises as to whether written agreements accommodate recording implied consent under it. Therefore, the Constitution Bench recognized two critical questions under the consent part of the judgement. 1.    Is it necessary for a party to be a ‘signatory’ of the arbitration agreement to be bound by the same. 2.    Does implied consent come under the ambit of Section 7 of the Act that rigidly recognizes arbitration agreements in written forms only? In the following sections, the authors have highlighted how adjudacting these questions led to the successful incorporation of the doctrine and where the judicial precedents have failed to do the same. IV. Judicial Precedents There are several precedents in the field of arbitration law that have laid down circumstantial grounds to bind non-signatories to arbitration agreements. In Chloro Control (P) Ltd v. Severn Trent Water Purification Inc. (“Chloro Control”), the Supreme Court laid down several grounds on which a non-signatory could be bound by the arbitration agreement. As per the ruling, the non-signatory not only needed to share a direct legal relationship with the signatories to the agreement and but must also have a direct commonality to the subject-matter of such a transaction. Relying on the Chloro Control (supra) judgment, the Supreme Court in Ameet Lalchand Shah v. Rishabh Enterprises held that in arbitral disputes where several interconnected agreements exist among parties (involving both signatories and non-signatories), all the parties can be referred to arbitration by the virtue of their participation in interconnected agreements. Similarly, a two-judge bench of the Apex court in Reckitt Benckiser (India) Private Limited v. Reynders Label Printing India Private Limited held that for a non-signatory to be bound by an arbitration agreement, it needs to have a ‘causal relationship’ with negotiations preceding the agreement. The causal relationshop contextually refers to the ‘active involvement’ of the concerned non-signatory party in the negotiations of the concerned transaction before its execution. The doctrine’s purport was also under question in Cheran Properties v. Kasturi Sons Pvt Ltd & Ors (2021),where the Apex Court observed that, the doctrine intends to facilitate the fulfilment of a mutually held intent between parties, where the circumstances indicated the intention to bind non-signatories as well. It binds a party who assumes obligations in layered business transactions without formally being a signatory to it. Lastly, the Supreme Court in the ONGC v. Discovery Enterprises noted that a non-signatory may be bound by an arbitration agreement, where (a) there exists a group of companies; and (b) the parties have made statements or engaged in conduct indicating an intention to bind a non-signatory. It thus, established a dual requirement for the application of the doctrine. Further, it reiterated that the present law on the subject considers the following factors: (a) mutual intent of parties; (b) relationship of a non-signatory to a signatory; (c) commonality of the subject-matter; (d) composite nature of the transaction; and (e) performance of the contract. The group of companies doctrine traces its origins from the French case Dow Chemical Vs. Isover Saint Gobain adjudicated by the International Chamber of Commerce Tribunal (“ICC”). Seeking to determine its jurisdiction over non-signatories, the ICC tribunal tried to discover the ‘common intention’ of the parties to be part of the negotiation and performance of the agreement. The tribunal concluded that if an ‘intention’ of the parties could be discovered from their actions, to be bound by the process of negotiation and performance of the agreement, then the parties can be said to be ‘parties to the agreement’. This additionally made the non-signatory parties to the arbitration. The case has also emphasized upon the inclusion of implied consent under the ambit of written agreements. Now, it can be inferred from the domestic rulings that none of them precisely answer the questions and issues discussed in the previous section. The SC in its previous rulings, has not been cognizant of the issue of including implied consent under written arbitration agreements. Although the Discovery Enterprises tried laying down guidelines for including almost every aspect of the doctrine, it overlooked the ‘consent aspect’ of the doctrine. In the following section, the authors attempt to demonstrate how the Court has finally laid down to rest the issues raised in the previous section. V. Parties Being Non-Signatories Before scrutinizing the ambit of Section 7 of the Arbitration Act, the Court had to first look at the meaning of ‘parties’ in the context of arbitration agreements. The Court noted, that as per Section 2(h) of the Arbitration Act a ‘party’ refers to ‘any party to an arbitration agreement’. The Court also took note of how Section 7 of the Arbitration Act recognizes arbitration agreements in writing and in three different forms as per sub-section 7(4). The Court observed that Section 7 has both aspects i.e. formal and substantive. The substantive aspect has been captured in sub-section 7(1) that forms a legal relationship between parties to submit to dispute to arbitration in the event of any dispute arising out of the contractual relationship. Legal relationships that are contractual in nature have to abide by the Indian Contract Act, 1872. The Court further emphasized that contracts can be both express and implied. In words of the bench, as per paragraph 74 of judgment, “[t]hus, it is not necessary for the persons or entities to be signatories to a contract to enter into a legal relationship – the only important aspect to be determined is whether they intended or consented to enter into the legal relationship by the dint of their action or conduct’. Similarly in paragraph 75, examining sub-section 7(3) of the Arbitration Act, the Bench held that “[t]he mandatory requirement of a written arbitration agreement is merely to ensure that there is a clearly established record of the consent of the parties to refer their disputes to arbitration to the exclusion of the domestic courts”. To substantiate its stand, the Bench referred to Article 7 of the UNCITRAL Model Law. The Article states that an arbitration agreement may be entered into in any form, for example orally or tacitly, as long as the content of the agreement is recorded. It eliminates the requirement of the signature of parties or an exchange of messages between the parties. When recorded in writing under Section 7 of the Arbitration Act, a ‘signature’ is an expressed or formalistic version of signifying consent to an agreement, which directs towards the idea of ‘express consent’. In regard to ‘implied consent’ under the ambit of written arbitration agreements, there is no explicit provision in the existing legal framework. However, it is important to note that Section 7 of the Arbitration Act does not explicitly speak on whether it requires consent to be similarly recorded in an expressed form, or it subsumes implied consent under it. This ambiguity proves to be a major impediment in the incorporation of the group of companies’ doctrine that binds non-signatories to an arbitration agreement by the virtue of their implied consent. Before scrutinizing the ambit of Section 7 of the Arbitration Act, the Court had to first look at the meaning of ‘parties’ in the context of arbitration agreements. The Court noted in Paragraph 73 of the judgment, that as per Section 2(h) of the Arbitration Act a ‘party’ refers to any party to an arbitration agreement. The Court also took note of Section 7’s rigid requirement of arbitration agreement in written form only and the three different forms as per sub-section 7(4) namely – a)    a document signed by the parties. b)    an exchange of letters, telex, telegrams, or other means of telecommunication 1[including communication through electronic means] which provide a record of the agreement; or c)    an exchange of statements of claim and defence in which the existence of the agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by the other. The Court observed that Section 7 has both aspects i.e., formal and substantive in sub-sections 7(3) and 7(1) respectively. The substantive aspect has been captured in sub-section 7(1) that forms a legal relationship between parties to submit to dispute at the event of any dispute. The Court also noted that, as similar to contracts, consent to a legal relationship can be both implied or expressed and the same has to be inferred from the conduct of the parties. As per paragraph 74 of judgment, “The legal relationships between and among parties could either be contractual or non-contractual. For legal relations to be contractual in nature, they ought to meet the requirements of the Indian contract law as contained in the Contract Act. It has been shown in the preceding paragraphs that a contract can either be express or implied, which is inferred on the basis of action or conduct of the parties. Thus, it is not necessary for the persons or entities to be signatories to a contract to enter into a legal relationship – the only important aspect to be determined is whether they intended or consented to enter into the legal relationship by the dint of their action or conduct”. Hence, the Bench prioritized the presence of consent of a party, over the manner in which the same is discovered i.e., expressed or implied, in order to bind such party to an agreement. Hence, the Court ruled in paragraph 76 that “Section 2(h) read with Section 7 does not expressly require the “party” to be a signatory to an arbitration agreement or the underlying contract containing the arbitration agreement”. Hence after reading Section 7, the Court held that it is not necessary for the persons or entities to be signatories to the arbitration agreement to be bound by it. In case of non-signatory parties, the important determination for the courts is whether the persons or entities intended or ‘consented’ to be bound by the arbitration agreement or the underlying contract containing the arbitration agreement through their acts or conduct. VI. Consent- A Pragmatic Approach The Constitutional Bench observed that there often arise situations where a company which has signed the contract containing the arbitration clause is not always the one to negotiate or perform the underlying contractual obligations. In such situations, emphasis on formal consent will lead to the exclusion of such non-signatories from the ambit of the arbitration agreement, leading to multiplicity of proceedings and fragmentation of disputes. Hence, the Court felt the need for a more pragmatic approach towards consent. Paragraph 93 of the ruling took note of Professor Hanotiau who suggested that “it is more accurate to refer to a modern approach to consent; an approach that is more pragmatic, more focussed on an analysis of facts, which places an emphasis on commercial practice, economic reality, trade usages, and the complex and multifaceted dimensions of large projects involving group of companies and connected agreements in multiparty multi-contract scenarios; an approach that is no longer restricted to express consent but that takes into consideration all its various expressions and tends to give much more importance than before to the conduct of the individuals or companies concerned”. Evidently, the need for the recognition of implied consent is being talked about, in world of business and commercial agreements that restrict their understanding of consent in an express form i.e., signature only. Looking at the modern-day businesses involving complex multiparty contractual agreements, the Court understood the context how the group of companies’ doctrine was created to bind non-signatory parties who were implicated in subject matter of the dispute of arbitration. Hence, the Court expressed its concluding opinion in paragraph 128 of the ruling which states “[w]e hold that all the cumulative factors laid down in Discovery Enterprises (supra) must be considered while determining the applicability of the group of companies doctrine. However, the application of the above factors has to be fact-specific, and this Court cannot tie the hands of the courts or tribunals by laying down how much weightage they ought to give to the above factors. This approach ensures that a dogmatic emphasis on express consent is eschewed in favour of a modern approach to consent which focuses on the factual analysis, complexity of commercial projects, and thereby increases the relevance of arbitration in multi-party disputes. Moreover, it is also keeping in line with the objectives of the Arbitration Act which aims to make the Indian arbitration law more responsive to the contemporary requirements’. The bench took note of the fact Indian arbitration law is both domestic and international in nature and needs to abide by principles of contracts and corporate law recognised internationally. Finally, the court concluded the consent aspect of judgment in the following three points:- a)    The definition of “parties” under Section 2(1)(h) read with Section 7 of the Arbitration Act includes both the signatory as well as non-signatory parties. b)    Conduct of the non-signatory parties could be an indicator of their consent to be bound by the arbitration agreement. c)    The requirement of a written arbitration agreement under Section 7 does not exclude the possibility of binding non-signatory parties. With such an inclusive approach towards, the court held that requirement of written agreements Section 7 of the Arbitration act does not exclude a non-signatory party from being bound by an arbitration agreement solely due to the absence of a formal signature of such party. This pragmatic construal of consent coupled with the holistic application of guidelines laid down in Discovery Enterprises (Supra) leads to the successful integration of the group of companies doctrine into the existing legal framework. VI. Conclusion In this article, the authors have fairly pointed out the ‘x factor’ that segregates this landmark judgment of the Supreme Court from its previous ones i.e. a pragmatic approach towards consent. The authors also bring to the notice that the group of companies’ doctrine is consent based doctrine, and any effort to integrate the doctrine into the legal system also requires recognition of implied consent by the parties to be bound by an arbitration agreement. Further the Court has also set a pathbreaking precedent that emphasizes the importance of taking an inclusive approach towards implied consent while dealing with disputes pertaining to legal relationships. Hence, the ruling can be considered a welcome one in the field of not only arbitration law but corporate legal system in general. [1] Digvijay Khatai is a second-year B.A. LL.B. Student at National Law University, Odisha. EMAIL: 22ba037@nluo.ac.in [2] Jibisa Janvi Behera is a second-year B.A. LL.B. Student at National Law University, Odisha. EMAIL: 22ba044@nluo.ac.in

Kushagra Tolambia I. Introduction The interpretation of unstamped arbitration agreements has been a contentious issue before various Courts worldwide. The Indian Supreme Court, for instance, has faced numerous cases dealing with the enforceability of arbitration clauses within unstamped contracts. Historically, the Court's stance leaned towards upholding the validity of arbitration agreements, even in unstamped contracts, if the agreement itself could be treated independently from the underlying contract. The Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, was enacted to align with international practices and streamline the arbitration process. Section 11 of the Act empowers the court to appoint arbitrators unless the agreement is null and void, inoperative, or incapable of being performed. The Supreme Court, in a series of landmark judgements, emphasized the separability doctrine, asserting that an arbitration agreement could exist independently from the underlying contract. Recently, a seven judge bench of the Supreme Court in the case of In Re: Interplay between Arbitration Agreements under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 And the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (“In Re: The Interplay”), has upheld the validity of unstamped or inadequately stamped agreements in an arbitration proceeding. II. What is the issue about? The issue arose in the context of the interplay between the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“the Act, 1996”), the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (“the Stamp Act, 1899”)and the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (“the Contract Act, 1872”). Under the Stamp Act, 1899, an instrument which is unstamped or inadequately stamped is inadmissible in evidence and cannot be acted upon. Often, contracts containing arbitration clauses are unstamped. When a party seeks appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Act, 1996, objections are raised that the arbitration agreement is inadmissible since the underlying contract is unstamped. The key question was whether such an unstamped contract (and consequently the arbitration agreement) would be non-existent, unenforceable or invalid. In N.N. Global Mercantile (P) Ltd. v. Indo Unique Flame Ltd.,2021 (“N.N. Global"), a three-judge bench held that an arbitration agreement is separate and distinct from the underlying commercial contract, and would remain valid and enforceable despite the contract being unstamped. This view differed from the earlier judgments in SMS Tea Estates v. Chandmari Tea Co. P. Ltd. (“SMS Tea Estates”) and Garware Wall Ropes Ltd. v. Coastal Marine Constructions & Engg. Ltd (“Garware Wall Ropes”). A five-judge Constitution Bench in N.N. Global Mercantile (P) Ltd. v. Indo Unique Flame Ltd., 2023 (“the N.N. Global (II)”)” subsequently affirmed SMS Tea Estates and Garware Wall Ropes and held that an unstamped contract containing an arbitration clause is void under Section 2(g) of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and the arbitration agreement cannot be acted upon until the underlying contract is duly stamped. Thereafter, a three-judge bench decision in Vidya Drolia v. Durga Trading Corporation, 2020 cited SMS Tea Estates and Garware Wall Ropes with approval. This led to a reference before a larger seven-judge bench in the case of In Re: The Interplay to reconsider the correctness of N.N. Global and related issues concerning stamping of arbitration agreements. III. The Court’s Conclusion? 1.  Unstamped instruments are inadmissible in evidence but not void The Court held that merely being unstamped does not render an instrument void under the Stamp Act 1899. The consequence of non-payment of stamp duty is that the instrument is inadmissible in evidence. However, this does not amount to invalidity. Being a fiscal statute, the Stamp Act, 1899 renders an instrument inadmissible in evidence to ensure payment of stamp duty. It does not prescribe the substantive consequences of voidness, unenforceability or non-existence. 2. Non-stamping is a curable defect The Court held that non-stamping or insufficient stamping is merely a curable defect. The Stamp Act itself provides a procedure for having the instrument stamped on payment of requisite stamp duty and penalty. This indicates that unstamped instruments are not void ab initio. There is no procedure for ‘curing’ a void instrument. 3. Arbitration agreements are valid despite unstamped underlying contract The Court relied on the doctrine of separability enshrined in Section 16 of the Act, 1996 to hold that an arbitration agreement contained in an unstamped underlying contract remains valid and enforceable. The non-stamping of the substantive contract does not ipso facto invalidate the arbitration agreement therein, since the latter is a separate agreement. 4. Limited prima facie examination under Section 11 of the Act, 1966 Under Section 11, a court is confined to examining the existence of an arbitration agreement prima facie. It cannot undertake a detailed adjudication on stamping or impound the instrument at the pre-arbitral stage. This would undermine the competence-competence principle and the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction. Issues of stamp duty and impounding fall within the domain of the arbitrators. 5. The Act, 1996 has primacy over the Stamp Act, 1899 with respect to arbitration agreements The Court held that the Act, 1996 being a special law governing arbitrations, will prevail over the more general Stamp Act, 1899 and Contract Act, 1872 qua arbitration agreements. The minimal judicial intervention mandate of Section 5 of the Act, 1996 implies that provisions of the Stamp Act, 1899 cannot interfere with the operation of the Arbitration Act, which has primacy. IV. Settling Down the Controversy of Unstamped Arbitration Agreements (Analysis) The Supreme Court's judgment settles the controversy on the validity of arbitration agreements in unstamped contracts. It steers a middle path so that neither the Act, 1996 nor the Stamp Act, 1899 is rendered otiose. The ruling upholds party autonomy and the competence-competence principle which are cornerstones of arbitration law. At the same time, it preserves the object of the Stamp Act, 1899 in securing revenue by requiring payment of stamp duty before the underlying contract is acted upon. By holding that unstamped instruments are not void ab initio, the Court followed a long line of precedents including Thiruvengadam Pillai v. Navaneethammal, 2008 and Gulzari Lal Marwari v. Ramgopal 1936 which had distinguished between voidness and inadmissibility. The Court correctly held that the Stamp Act, 1899 renders a document inadmissible in evidence and not void or invalid. The ruling settles this confusion in jurisprudence. The Court has also authoritatively applied the doctrine of separability to hold that defects in the underlying contract do not ipso facto invalidate the arbitration clause, which remains a distinct agreement. This finding accords with international arbitration jurisprudence and gives full effect to party autonomy. The judgment helpfully clarifies the contours of Sections 8 and 11 of the Act, 1996. The prima-facie existence test under Section 11 excludes issues of stamping which must be left to the arbitrators. This upholds competence-competence and speedy constitution of tribunals. At the same time, issues of stamp duty can be agitated later during arbitration or challenge to the award. V. Implications of the Judgment The Supreme Court's judgment will have far-reaching implications. First, it settles the law by holding that unstamped contracts and arbitration agreements are not void or invalid. Second, it secures the validity of India's position as an arbitration friendly jurisdiction and a global hub for international arbitrations. Third, it upholds party autonomy and minimises judicial intervention at the pre-arbitral stage. Fourth, it reduces litigation over the appointment of arbitrators and ensures speedy constitution of tribunals. Commercially, the judgment is a boon for business transactions and contracts containing arbitration clauses. Parties need not rush to pay stamp duty at the time of execution for fear of subsequent invalidation. The ruling incentivises business entities to choose arbitration over litigation. At the same time, it preserves the revenue interests of states since stamp duty remains payable before substantive rights and obligations under a contract can be enforced. For arbitral institutions and foreign parties, the verdict assures that unstamped contracts will not derail India-seated arbitrations at the outset. It promotes arbitration as a time and cost effective dispute resolution mechanism. Court delays over impounding contracts at the pre-arbitral stage will also reduce. However, courts can still test the validity and enforceability of unstamped underlying contracts if an award is challenged on such grounds later under Section 34 of the Act, 1996. VI. The Way Forward The Supreme Court has given a pro-arbitration interpretation to reconcile party autonomy under the Act, 1996 with the state's fiscal interests under the Stamp Act, 1899. Lower courts must adhere to this authoritative pronouncement and refrain from delaying arbitration proceedings due to unstamped contracts. However, access to justice concerns may arise if arbitration becomes an exclusive domain for affluent parties, while weaker parties are unable to invoke arbitration due to procedural costs and delays in stamping contracts. Courts should adopt a balanced approach. For domestic and small-value disputes, substantial stamping compliance must be ensured at the initial stage itself. For high-value commercial and international arbitrations, exorbitant stamp duty requirements should not hamper arbitration. The onus is also on states to rationalize and simplify stamp duty administration, adopt technology solutions and minimize penal consequences for unstamped instruments. This will complement the Supreme Court's judgment in fulfilling the objectives of both the Stamp Act, 1899 and the Act, 1996. The ruling lays the ground for India's economic growth, global role and emergence as an arbitration hub. *Kushagra Tolambia is a third-year B.A. LL.B (Hons.) student at National Law University, Lucknow

Yuvraj Sharma* Introduction In recent years, an increasing number of U.S. courts have been involved in cases dealing that revolve around the interpretation and application of 28 USC §1782. This has made section 1782 more popular among foreign parties involved in legal or arbitration proceedings outside the United States who want to leverage the broad discovery procedures available in the U.S. However, the language of the statute has generated significant debate about its applicability. The central question revolves around whether it can be used in private commercial arbitrations and whether U.S. courts can compel the production of document loaded in other countries. This article specifically addresses the later question and explores how the current legal landscape impacts international arbitration and what is the applicability of this with respect to India. Understanding Section 1782 and its application International Arbitration Section 1782 enables a U.S. federal district court to assist foreign legal proceedings by ordering the production of documents and witness depositions. Typically initiated through a unilateral application, its docent requires the foreign proceeding to be active but must be reasonably contemplated. For this assistance, three criteria must meet: “1) the request originates from a foreign or international tribunal or an interested party”, “2) the requested information is intended for use in a foreign or international tribunal”, and “3) the person subject to discovery reside or is found in the district where the request is made”. If these conditions are satisfied, the district court may, at its dictation, grant the request. The Supreme Court’s intel decision introduced four factors for courts to consider when exercising the discretion: Whether the subject of discovery is a party to the foreign proceedings (which makes it harder to obtain discovery). The willingness of the foreign court to accept U.S. assistance. Is the §1782 request being made in an effort to bypass limitation on gathering evidence in a foreign jurisdiction? Is the request unduly invasive or imposing an excessive burden on the party being asked to provide the asked information? Before the Intel decision, two circuit court had ruled on whether section 1782 applied to Private International Arbitration (“Nat. Broad co. v. Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. and Republic of Kazakhstan v. Biederman Int’l”). Both courts had concluded that section 1782 did not apply to such cases. However, in Intel, Justice Ginsberg cited Professor Hans Smit, a key contributor to Section 1782’s drafting, who stated that the term “tribunal” included arbitration. This led to 18 years of section 1782 cases being brought in support of arbitration, creating a split in district and circuit courts. The Supreme Court took up the case to resolve this division. The Uncertainty surrounding of use section 1782 discovery The “Servotronics Inc. v. Rolls Royce Plc” (“Servotronics”) case, which revolves around the interpretation of Section 1782 in U.S. Law. The key issue was whether an international tribunal can be classified as a “foreign or international tribunal” under section 1782, determining its applicability in International Arbitration cases. Notably Two U.S. circuit courts, the Fourth and Seventh circuits, reached conflicting conclusions on this matter. The Fourth Circuit allowed Section 1782 discovery in International arbitration cases, while the Seventh circuit denied it. This circuit split had created legal uncertainty and prompted Servotronics to appeal the case to the Supreme Court in December 2020. The historical context of the case and the diverse interpretations across different legal circuit have been comprehensively documented in various sources, and for brevity, these details will not be further elaborated on this post.  What’s notable is that multiple parties, including the U.S. Department of justice, have significance amicus brief in the Supreme Court proceedings, highlighting the significance of the issue and the potential implications of the court’s decision. A closer look of Implications of ruling The Supreme Court’s decision in this case settles a legal dispute and clarifies the rules for getting information in International arbitrations in the U.S. Now, it’s straightforward if the arbitration group is private, it’s not subject to U.S. discovery rules under §1782. This decision makes international arbitration more predictable but limits the choices for people making contracts. If the courts had allowed information gathering in private arbitrations, parties could choose whether to follow standards rules or exclude U.S. discovery into here agreements. The decision is likely good news for U.S. parties but not so great for foreign parties. People in arbitration now know they can’t use §1782 to get information in the U.S This clarity has pros and cons. Foreign parties can no longer seek information in the U.S., which was allowed in some areas. But parties in the U.S. may like this decision because it limits the information they can access in foreign arbitration, making things fairer between them and the people they are making agreement with. Section 1782, which allows parties U.S. discovery for international arbitration, has gained more attention recently. This is particularly true for private international commercial arbitration outside the U.S. However, while it can be a valuable tool for obtaining information that might otherwise be hard to access, it also raises important issue in the context of arbitration. Arbitration is meant to be a less burdensome alternative alive to litigation, with discovery usually limited by chosen arbitration rules or the law of the arbitration’s location often outside the U.S. But using section 1782 to get overseas discovery can significantly expand the available information beyond what arbitration forums discovery rules, but the fact that the requested information can’t be obtained there doesn’t determine the outcome. This has significant implications for International arbitration. In district allowing extraterritorial Section 1782 discovery, companies within their jurisdiction may be compelled to produce documents from their affiliates in unrelated countries, which would otherwise be off-limits in the arbitration. Similarly, section 1782 could force testimony from witnesses, including third parties, that might not otherwise be use in the arbitration. Arbitration is typically based on party’s agreement, including the choice of rules and the arbitration’s location, which dictate the extent of discovery, non-U.S. entities may not even know about it when signing arbitration agreements. Some argue that unilateral section 1782 applications could violate arbitration agreements. Notably section 1782 potential uses have faced critics. Some courts are concerned about potential abuse and “forum shopping” for information unrelated to the U.S commentators also point out that using Section 1782 in foreign arbitrations may lead to controversial results, such as allowing preheating discovery for arbitrations outside the U.S., which domestic parties cannot do under the Federal Arbitration Act. Moreover, obtaining internal documents of non-US. Entities through their U.S. affiliates jurisdiction extension could have far reaching consequences. English courts, for example have been hesitant to restrain section 1782 discovery. Foreign jurisdiction hasn’t enacted similar mechanism as the U.S., and some have expressed discomfort with Section 1782.  Overall while tribunal and courts outside the U.S. are open to evidence obtained through section 1782, there are still limits and concerns about its applications. A closer look at legal stance in India In the context of Indian law, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) places strict limitations on the discovery process, ensuring it is not overly broad or speculative. Discovery tools, such as interrogatories, are subject to relevance, and affidavits of documents generally hold conclusive weight. However, when dealing with legal matters involving entities or individuals from the United States, there is a unique avenue available. Through an application in a U.S. Federal Court under 28 USC §1782 once can obtain U.S. style discovery allowing broader access to documents and the examinations of witness a process that often leads to pre-trial settlements. Shifting the focus, the recent 2015 Amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 in India has reinstated, to some extend the principle established in the Bhatia International judgement. This amendment, affecting Section 2(2) of the 1996 Act, affirms that the provisions of Part-I, including interim relief, are applicable to all arbitrations, including those with a foreign seat, unless expressly or implicitly excluded the parties. The term “subject to an agreement to the contrary” introduces a level of ambiguity, as it does not specify whether the agreement must be express or implied. In case without an express contrary agreement, Indian courts have issued judgements on the concept of an ‘implied agreement’ to exclude the application of Part I of the 1996 Act and its Section 9. This is implied exclusion of Indian Arbitration Law in foreign seated arbitrations has been a subjected of extensive debate among legal practitioners and scholars. To understand the impact of the 2015 Amendment Act on international commercial arbitration governed by foreign law, it is essential to delve into the legal stance on ‘implied exclusion.’ Indian courts have provided examples of situations in which they used implied exclusion to exclude Part I's application. This exclusion is predicated on a number of variables, such as the arbitration agreement's controlling law, the seat of the arbitration, and the procedural procedures of international arbitral institutions. A few prominent cases that highlight this strategy include Videocon Industries Ltd. v. Union of India, Yograj Infrastructure Ltd. vs. Ssangyong Engineering Construction Co. Ltd., Hardy Oil Gas Ltd. vs. Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd., and Harmony Innovation Shipping Ltd. v. Gupta Coal India Ltd. These cases highlight that specific provisions in the contract, such as the seat of arbitration, the governing law of the agreement, and the law governing the conduct of arbitration, can imply the exclusion of Part I of the 1996 Act. However, a recent unreported judgement by the Madras High Court took a difference stance. The court held that in a Pre-Balco Arbitration Agreement, even with the explicit selection of foreign law, it parties allow approaching Indian Courts for interim measures, Section 9 of the Act becomes valid and applicable. The court emphasizes the importance of the precise language used in contracts and arbitration agreements, noting that the current case is unique since it has a retention or saving clause, which was not present in previous decisions. This emphasizes how complex legal circumstances might be in international arbitration and how important it is to have precise language in arbitration agreements. Legal disputes in Indian courts are likely to arise from the different interpretations that result from different judgments, especially when it comes to preliminary topics. Concluding Remarks The court's latest ruling is an important step forward for international arbitration and the rules governing the gathering of evidence in these cases. This historic decision has far-reaching effects, and a thorough appreciation of its significance necessitates examining a number of crucial aspects of the opinion. Firstly, international arbitration now has much-needed clarity thanks to the court's ruling. It sets a standard for the collection and presentation of evidence in these kinds of disputes, thereby impacting the arbitration procedure as a whole. Parties involved in international arbitration proceedings may now anticipate the rules and guidelines guiding the evidence gathering process thanks to this increased clarity. Second, notwithstanding its prior assistance in obtaining evidence in instances involving international arbitration, the United States is now limited in its involvement by the current rule. The landscape of international arbitration has changed significantly as a result of this restriction on U.S. court aid, since parties are now required to rely more on the arbitration process itself rather than requesting substantial support from U.S. courts. Furthermore, it is imperative to bear in mind that the current decision in Intel Corp v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. is not as far-reaching as it was in the past. The Intel Corp case opened the door to more extensive U.S. assistance in foreign lawsuits. The New Ruling limits the situations in which U.S. courts can help in international arbitration issues, marking a change from this more expansive understanding. The recent decision primarily focuses on private arbitral bodies, as opposed to those with clear government authority. This distinction is crucial because it defines the types of cases affected by the ruling. Matters involving private arbitral bodies will see more significant changes in the way evidence is handled.  It remains uncertain whether this decision applies to international treaty-based institution such as ISCID. The extend of the ruling’s application to these institution’s, which have distinct procedural rules, is still a matter of debate. Lastly, as is stands, §1782, which governs the assistance of U.S. courts in the discovery process, does not apply to international commercial and significant investment arbitration. This means that for the foreseeable future, the discovery in International arbitration. Parties involved in these arbitration cases will need to adapt to this new legal landscape and find alternative means of evidence collection and presentations. *Yuvraj Sharma, 4th year, BA. LL.B from the School of Law, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Hyderabad.

- Harsh Mahaseth and Anvita Sharma[i] India's remarkable ascent as a key player in the global economy continues, characterized by a surge in investments both within and beyond its borders. This economic dynamism has given rise to an escalating demand within the international business community for a reliable and definitive method to address disputes related to India. Faced with a significant backlog of cases and time constraints, courts are increasingly open to exploring alternative dispute resolution methods. Data indicates that as of September 2023, a staggering 80,344 cases were pending before the top court, a figure exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of judges grappling with an increasing workload. With arbitration emerging as a pivotal and favoured approach for dispute resolution, both domestically and globally, it is imperative for the Government of India, in collaboration with the Judiciary, to assume a pivotal role in aligning and enhancing the efficiency of arbitration processes. Post-liberalization of its economy, India drew inspiration from the United Nations General Assembly's initiative to adopt the UNCITRAL Model Law of Arbitration. Subsequently, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, was modelled to modernize Indian arbitration law and align it with the best global practices. However, it lacked a structural framework for institutional arbitration. The recent 2019 amendment (“Amendment”) seeks to address this gap by mandating the creation of the Arbitration Council of India, tasked with promoting alternative dispute resolution practices such as mediation, arbitration, and negotiation. With this Amendment, India is poised to become a global hub for arbitration, backed by a body dedicated to fostering amicable methods of dispute resolution. The Amendment also introduces tiered and grading systems to ensure quality checks of specific institutions. Concerning international arbitrations, the amendment empowers the Supreme Court and High Court to designate arbitration institutions graded by the Arbitration Council of India. Traditionally, international investors favoured sending their disputes to arbitration centres in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the International Chamber of Commerce. In an effort to revamp India’s reputation as a foreign investment-friendly nation, the Central Government launched the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill (“Bill”) in 2018. The Bill aimed to acquire and restructure the governance structure and procedural framework that were formerly under the International Centre for Alternate Dispute Resolution by establishing the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (“NDIAC”). The Bill suggests designating NDIAC as an institute of national significance, which is anticipated to grant NDIAC independence in its academic, financial, and administrative operations. In 2019, the Government of India approved the Bill, a major step towards developing institutional arbitration. The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Act, 2019, requires the NDIAC to strive to facilitate the conduct of international and domestic arbitration and conciliation. Consequently, the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Act, 2022, includes the conduct of other forms of alternative dispute resolution. Inevitably, the question arises as to how NDIAC would attract international investors. Three factors would develop NDIAC as a preferred arbitration institute – cost, timelines, and facility. The shift to institutional arbitration would only occur if these institutes were designed to conduct arbitration and conciliation in a professional and timely effective manner. The Central Government believed that implementing a cost-effective process would be the best method to steer the nation away from litigation. Additionally, the NDIAC would be preferred to ad-hoc arbitration because the costs are not predetermined in the latter. It does not follow any regulations. The Supreme Court in ONGC vs. Afcons Gunanusa brought to light the excessive fees charged by arbitrators unilaterally. Building upon this, the Supreme Court highlighted how institutional arbitration can “save arbitration from arbitration cost”. The fees are determined at a prescribed rate depending upon the complexity and number of hearings. Along with cost, time is one of the primary advantages of arbitration. According to Section 15 of the 2019 Act, the centre must provide timely resolution of disputes at both national and international levels. Studies denote that ad-hoc arbitration can be time-consuming with no guarantee that the terms agreed upon will address all issues. In terms of facility, NDIAC has an experienced panel of accredited professionals to conduct proceedings. It provides for the specialization of arbitrators, which means parties can freely choose an arbitrator skilled in the subject matter in question. NDIAC also provides parties with alternative forms of dispute resolution such as mediation and conciliation proceedings. Such facilities will educate people about which process would work best for the effective resolution of their disputes. Moreover, the NDIAC promotes research and training, and conducts seminars in the field of alternative dispute resolution, benefiting the nation in the long run. Alongside NDIAC, several other arbitration centres have been established in India, including The Indian Council of Arbitration, the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration, and the International Centre for Alternative Conflict Resolution, all endorsing effective and reliable conflict resolution. The India International Arbitration Centre (“IIAC”), founded under the India International Arbitration Centre Act, 2019 is an enormous catalyst for progress. It is comprised of a group of knowledgeable individuals, including a former Supreme Court judge. The IIAC is dedicated to making India a leading centre for arbitration globally. A focused examination of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, especially concerning the NDIAC, illuminates the diverse strategies India is employing to establish itself as a prominent global arbitration hub. Somesh Dutta highlights the need to significantly diminish the reliance on foreign jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and Singapore for resolving domestic disputes through arbitration. Achieving this objective necessitates the establishment of a robust arbitration bar. As India continues on this transformative journey, the emphasis on cultivating a strong domestic arbitration infrastructure becomes paramount. [i] About the Authors: Harsh Mahaseth is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean (Academic Affairs) and Anvita Sharma is a law student at Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, India

Advik Rijul Jha[1] I. Introduction Arbitration as a preferred mode of Dispute Resolution has proliferated over the years in India, with an increase in not only the number of cases being referred to arbitration, but also a rampant rise in the kinds of disputes which are being referred to arbitration, both in terms of the nature of the dispute and the quantum of amounts in dispute. However, albeit the above growth of arbitration, it is pertinent to point out that Conciliation which has statutory recognition has also been promoted at a pre-arbitral stage for the resolution of disputes due to the possibility of hastening the resolution of the disputes in a time-bound manner coupled with reducing the burden on the courts. An instance of the same can be evinced from a perusal of various contracts entered into by the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU’s) such as GAIL, NTPC etc, wherein Conciliation has been explicitly stated to be attempted prior to Arbitration being invoked and proceeded with. Even in industrial disputes, the first step is to reach an amicable settlement by resorting to Conciliation vide the appointment of Conciliation officers, post which the matter is referred to be resolved vide arbitration. Against this backdrop, the question arises as to whether the process of Conciliation which is part and parcel of various Dispute Resolution clauses is directory or mandatory in nature prior to arbitration being commenced with. In order to answer the above question, it is imperative to refer to the relevant statutory provisions and judicial precedents in this regard. Further, with the Mediation Act, 2023 being passed recently, it would be interesting to see what changes the enactment of a dedicated statute brings to this dynamic of directory or mandatory nature of pre-arbitral modes of dispute resolution. II. Statutory Overview The provisions governing Conciliation are contained in Part III of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“The Act”). A bare perusal of the various sections contained in the afore-mentioned chapter itself evince that Conciliation is a voluntary process which can only be proceeded with in the event of both parties agreeing to the method for resolution of their disputes. Commencement of conciliation proceedings therefore depends upon the acceptance of the invitation to conciliate. Further, it is imperative to refer to Section 77 of the Act, as a perusal of the said section would reiterate the voluntary and directory nature of conciliation, a view which has also been endorsed vide various judgments which would be discussed hereunder subsequently. A reading of the aforesaid section evinces that while the conciliation proceedings are in process, parties are prevented from taking recourse to any arbitral or judicial proceedings but where any of the parties are of the opinion that such movement on his part is needed so as to preserve his rights, resort to arbitral or judicial proceedings may be had. Thus, the statute itself waters down the mandate of resorting to conciliation prior to resorting to arbitration. III. Judicial Precedents The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India as well as the High Court of Delhi have had the occasion to deal with this interesting question of law. The Supreme Court dealt with this issue in the case of Demerara Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. v/s Demarara Distilleries Ltd.[2] In the aforesaid case, the Court observed “it was opined that the relegation of the parties to the avenue of amicable resolution, when the application under Section 11(6) of A&C Act, 1996 has been filed, would be unjustified as in the case, where such relegation would be merely in the nature of an empty formality.”[3] (Para 5) A perusal of the above demonstrates that conciliation/mutual discussion has a mere directory nature when the ultimate recourse lies in arbitration. Another corollary view has been taken by the High Court of Delhi in Ravindra Kumar Verma v/s BPTP Ltd.,[4] wherein it was observed that “nothing worthwhile would be achieved by relegating the parties to explore any avenue of amicable resolution. Besides, the appointment of an Arbitrator by this Court would not act as an impediment to the parties to resolve their disputes amicably should it be possible at any point of time.” (Para 11). The Courts have also harped upon the voluntary nature of conciliation proceedings from time to time. One such judgment is of Abhi Engg. Corporation Pvt. Ltd. v/s NTPC Ltd.,[5] wherein it has been held that “[I]t has been rightly argued on behalf of the learned counsel for the 'petitioner that the process of "conciliation" could be resorted to only if both the parties agreed. Since the petitioner was not agreeable to resolution through conciliation, the Invocation of Arbitration cannot be held to be in noncompliance of mechanism agreed between the parties.” (Para 11) Another notable ruling following the same line of reasoning is that of M/s Oasis Projects Ltd. v/s Managing Director, National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.,[6] wherein a Coordinate Bench of the Delhi High Court, has held that “[i]t needs no emphasis that Conciliation as a Dispute Resolution Mechanism must be encouraged and should be one of the first endeavours of the parties when a dispute arises between them. However, having said that, Conciliation expresses a broad notion of a voluntary process, controlled by the parties and conducted with the assistance of a neutral third person or persons. It can be terminated by the parties at any time as per their free will.” (Para 12) The afore-said rationale has also been reiterated in the case of Subhash Infraengineers Pvt. Ltd. v. NTPC Ltd.,[7] wherein it has been stated “conciliation is a voluntary process and once a party has opted out of conciliation, it cannot be said that the said party cannot take recourse to dispute resolution through arbitration.” (Para 28) From the conspectus of cases discussed hereinabove, it is evident that the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court are consensus ad idem with regard to the voluntary and directory nature of conciliation as opposed to it being mandatory. The same also seems to be steeped in logic since if an arbitration clause is read in a mandatory manner with respect to any prior requirement to be complied with albeit conciliation/mutual discussion before invoking arbitration, the same can result in serious and grave prejudice to a party who is seeking to invoke arbitration because the time consumed in conciliation proceedings before seeking the invocation of arbitration is not exempted from limitation under any of the provisions of the Limitation Act, 1963 including its Section 14. Once there is no provision to exclude the period spent in conciliation proceedings, it is perfectly possible that if conciliation proceedings continue when the limitation period expires the same will result in nullifying the arbitration clause on account of the same not capable of being invoked on account of the bar of limitation i.e when proceedings for reference to arbitration are filed in court, the right to seek arbitration may end up being beyond three years of arising of the disputes and hence the petition for reference may be barred by limitation. Such an interpretation would lead to valuable rights of parties of getting disputes decided by arbitration getting extinguished, which is definitely not the intent of the Legislature nor the Judiciary. Therefore, it is imperative to have a look at the recently passed Mediation Act, 2023 to see if any progress has been made in this regard. IV. The Mediation Act, 2023: The Mediation Act, 2023 has been passed recently which provides statutory recognition to amicable resolution of disputes in civil, commercial, family and matrimonial matters and fosters a collaborative approach, reduces the burden on the courts by facilitating settlement of disputes outside courts, and preserves relationships of amongst disputants. However, there are certain provisions in the Act which may act as a deterrent rather than as a catalyst for meeting these objectives. The first of such provisions which is imperative to be pointed out is that on a plain reading of the relevant provisions of Section 5 of the Act, it is discernible that even pre-litigation mediation although being given statutory recognition, has been given a voluntary nature i.e. the provision reads “may voluntarily and with mutual consent”, which may render it similar to conciliation as discussed above. Due to the above wording, there is a high possibility that the courts while interpreting these provisions follow the interpretation as currently employed with regard to conciliation, as discussed in various cases hereinabove. The voluntary nature of Mediation is also discernible from a reading of Section 16 of the Act. This in effect can lead to a situation wherein parties entirely skip the mediation process, prior to resorting to arbitration or litigation, thereby defeating the objective of the Act at the initial stages itself. Another potential drawback of the Act is with respect to Court referred Mediation in accordance with Section 7, wherein the Court has been empowered to pass interim orders which may eventually lead to litigation before the Courts in this regard. Therefore, the legislature may have missed an opportunity here by not making mediation compulsory in the first place prior to the parties approaching the courts, which would have helped in reducing cases before the courts, which is the objective of the Act. However, there is also light at the end of the tunnel with this new Act. The Act under Section 18 has proposed a time-limit for the completion of mediation proceedings which has been given a mandatory nature. This is corroborated by the fact that unlike Conciliation proceedings which have the tendency to eat into the period of limitation prescribed for arbitration as discussed earlier, the time spent in Mediation proceedings has been excluded from the calculation of the limitation period. This would ensure that the rights of the parties to approach the Court are not negatively impacted. Therefore, while the Mediation Act, 2023 is a mixed bag with its own hits and misses, there is scope for this Act to reduce some of the panacea that the current Arbitration Act had. [1] About the author: Advik Rijul Jha is an Advocate who has been practising at the Supreme Court of India, High Court of Delhi and various Tribunals for the past couple of years. The author graduated from Jindal Global Law School. He is currently a Law Researcher with the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), High Court of Delhi. Views are personal. [2] MANU/SC/1121/2014. [3] MANU/SC/1121/2014. [4] MANU/DE/3028/2014. [5] MANU/DEOR/85493/2022. [6] MANU/DE/0638/2023. [7] MANU/DE/2476/2023.

Shelal Lodhi Rajput[1] Introduction: The Supreme Court in Lombardi v. Engineering Limited (“Lombardi”), delivered by a 3-judge bench, reiterated that the Indian Constitution is a Grundnorm and every law needs to be in consonance with it. The court struck down a pre-deposit clause in an arbitration agreement by emphasizing the inviolability of the Constitution in arbitration agreements as it hindered the effectiveness of an alternate dispute resolution mechanism. The ruling is concerned with the dispute between a Swiss Corporation named Lombardi Engineering Ltd and Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (“UJVNL”), a corporation owned by the Government of Uttarakhand where Lombardi had filed an application under Section 11(6) of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“A&C Act, 1996”) for appointment of an arbitrator. The Court has reemphasized its commitment towards a pro-arbitration approach and stands affirm with its path-breaking precedent of ICOMM Tele Ltd. v. Punjab State Water Supply & Sewage Board & Anr., (“ICOMM”) on a likewise subject matter. In the said case, the Supreme Court struck down the pre-deposit clause in question on the ground that it was arbitrary and unjust. The judgment was hailed as well as criticized at length. However, the latest ruling in Lombardi restates the stance of ICOMM ruling as a pro-arbitration approach adopted by the court in arbitration jurisprudence. The decision in Lombardi deals with the intersection of constitutional law jurisprudence with arbitration law in the Indian milieu specifically regarding the existing jurisprudential understanding of Pre-deposit clauses in arbitration agreements. This article restricts its inquiry to the moot issue and does not explore other issues addressed by the Apex Court. Background and Facts in Dispute: In the instant case, the petitioner company entered into a contract with Uttarakhand Project Development and Construction Corporation Limited (UPDCC) provide consultancy services for a hydroelectric project. Subsequently, the project was transferred to UJVNL through a tripartite agreement. Dispute emerged between the parties, prompting the Petitioner to serve a Notice of Arbitration to the Respondent. This Notice aimed to initiate the process of selecting an arbitrator as outlined in the contract's arbitration clause. In response, the Respondent decided to terminate the contract, alleging that the Petitioner had not fulfilled their work and contractual obligations. The arbitration clause found in the General Conditions of Contract became a subject of scrutiny, and the Petitioner requested the appointment of an arbitrator to address their claims. Issue for Consideration: The crux of the matter lies in the objection raised by Petitioner against the two specific clauses Clause 53 and 55 of the General Condition of Contract (“GCC”). The core of the dispute revolved around the stipulation under Clause 55 of the agreement that the petitioner must deposit 7% of the arbitration claim as a security for invoking the arbitration clause. Apex Court has formulated the four major issues in the instant case for consideration but the core of dispute that’s addressed herein is whether the pre-deposit clause as provided in the Contract can be considered as violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India for being manifestly arbitrary. The Judgment: Analytical Perspective On Constitution: Pre-deposit Clause and Arbitrariness The major consideration for the Court was whether the conditions stipulated in Clause 55 of GCC pertaining to the pre-deposit condition could be tested on the anvil of Article 14 or not. The arbitration clause in the GCC was under consideration herein along with other issues of appointment of an arbitrator to resolve their claims. Undoubtedly, it’s not the first time that courts have tested the arbitration clause on the touchstone of Article 14 while deciding Section 11(6) application, however, some interesting aspects herein are that the State is a party to the contract and there’s a pre-deposit clause in consideration. To erudite the aforesaid rationale, the Court traversed into jurisprudential understanding pertaining to Kelson’s Pure Theory of Law to elaborate on how the Constitution is Grundnorm and every and any law in India needs to adhere to the Grundnorm. The applicability of Art.14 herein is in order to ascertain that the clause should not be arbitrary in nature. It means that the stipulation under Clause 55 shall not be arbitrary and such arbitrary clause cannot be acted upon even by the consent of parties or in accordance with the principle of party autonomy as it contravenes the Grundnorm i.e., Indian Constitution. Along with that, such a clause should not be discriminatory in its approach to its application and it should be applicable to both parties. Further, the applicability of Art.14 in the context of a pre-deposit clause in the arbitration agreement has been explained by the Court in A.L. Kalra v. Project and Equipment Corporation of India Ltd.. In the case of ICOMM, the agreement explicitly stipulated the forfeiture of the security deposit, even if the judgment favoured the party that submitted the deposit. In this context, the court deemed such a provision arbitrary and in violation of Art. 14 of the Constitution. In the instant case, Clauses 3 and 4 of GCC concerning the security deposit for performance and its refund, are entirely unrelated to the predetermined 7% pre-deposit specified in Clause 55 of the GCC. The indistinct and ambiguous requirement of a 7% pre-deposit for the entire claim renders it more susceptible to arbitrary actions, thereby infringing upon Article 14 of the Constitution. An intricate aspect herein pertains to the private aspect of the contract, however, the Court highlighted the term ‘operation of law’ with relevant judicial precedents to depict the wider connotation resulting in coverage of the A&C Act, 1996. The court has not restricted itself to academic inquiry but also referred to five precedents from different high courts to demonstrate the theory of Grundnorm and they are Squadron Leader H. S. Kulshrestha v Union of India, Abdur Sukur & Another v State of West Bengal & others, Om Prakash Gupta v Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. & Anr, Government of Andhra Pradesh & Ors vs Smt. P. Laxmi Devi and Sunil v State of M. P. & Another. Thus, the arbitration agreement or any clause stipulated therein cannot be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India by virtue of Article 13 of the Constitution of India. A vital consideration herein pertains to the “party-autonomy” concept in arbitration law. Notably, it’s a settled position of law that there cannot be a consent against the law or to waive the fundamental rights. Thus, the arbitration clause needs to be in consonance with the “operation of law” to become legally binding and party autonomy cannot supersede the Grundnorm at any time. The court analysed the Pre-deposit clause on the anvil of Article 14 along with leading precedents on the subject matter. The court has comprehensively analysed the ICOMM and S.K. Jain judgments as they render contrasting decisions due to their different footings. A total of six decisions from different high courts were scrutinised by the Court. Those 06 decisions were related to determining the validity of the pre-deposit clause in the arbitration agreement and the appointment of an arbitrator in arbitration. High Courts have looked at the dictum of ICOMM and SK Jain and followed either one of them as per the facts of the case. Apex Court concluded that both the decisions were correct and not in conflict with each other. By doing so, the principles enunciated in ICOMM was further reiterated, relied and emphasised in the instant case to render the judgment. The Court concluded that Clauses 3 and 4, relating to security deposits for performance and their subsequent refund, were not directly or even indirectly related to the 7% pre-deposit mandate outlined in Clause 55 of the GCC. The lack of clarity and ambiguity surrounding the 7% pre-deposit requirement rendered it more prone to arbitrary interpretation, thereby infringing upon the principles of Article 14 of the Constitution. Doctrine of Freedom of Contract & Arbitrator’s Appointment Notably, this is not the first instance where the Court has granted special concessions to enhance the level of public interest in arbitration proceedings involving the State. In the case of Datar Switchgears Ltd. vs. Tata Finance Ltd. (2000), the court ruled in favour of a clause that allowed one party to unilaterally select the arbitrator in the event of a dispute. However, the discernible aspect herein is that the State is a party to the conflict and thus, the precedent of Datar is distinguishable on facts and is not applicable herein. This decision was based on the principle of contractual freedom, which granted parties complete discretion in shaping their own terms. This principle has been reaffirmed in various other cases involving two private parties. The scenario differs somewhat when the State is a party to the arbitration as in the instant case. In Voestalpine Schienen GmbH vs. DMRC Ltd., the Court scrutinized a clause that permitted DMRC to choose a pool of arbitrators from which the other party could then appoint one. The Court emphasized the necessity of having independent and impartial arbitrators in the arbitration process and deliberated on the significance of the arbitrators' neutrality, as outlined in Section 12(3) of the A&C Act, 1996. It also discussed the application of this provision concerning contracts with State entities and how the balance between procedural fairness and the binding nature of contracts has shifted in favour of the former. Closing remarks In crux, the court speaking through Hon’ble Justice J.B. Pardiwala held that the two conditions within Clause 55- firstly, a 7% deposit of the total claim amount and secondly, appointment of a sole arbitrator by Principal Secretary should be disregarded. It is because it hinders the independent and impartial nature of the arbitrator in arbitration due to vested interest as the State is a party to the dispute. Notably, the principal secretary is an employee of the State and thus, has a vested interest in appointing the arbitrator. Notably, the ruling of Perkins Eastman Architects DPC and another v. HSCC (India) Ltd held that no party who has any interest in the dispute can unilaterally appoint the sole arbitrator due to aspect of bias. Individuals with a vested interest in arbitration are not allowed to have the authority to nominate arbitrators. The Court has rightfully opined that the imposition of exemplary costs can be invoked in cases where claims are determined to be frivolous. However, requiring an upfront payment of 7% of the claimed amount and would contradict the primary objective of arbitration, which is to ensure the prompt, effective, cost-efficient, and expeditious resolution of disputes. This ruling establishes a precedent, upholding the integrity of the Indian arbitration process and reinforcing the Constitution as Grundnorm over arbitration agreements. It emphasises that the fundamental tenets of the constitution cannot be compromised by any agreement whatsoever and that arbitrary prerequisites must not impede access to justice. A food for thought Notably, on reading Para 82 of the judgment it seems that the Court has laid down a broad proposition of law for all arbitration agreements without deciphering the aspect of nature of parties and transactions involved in the dispute. In an instant case, the State is a party to dispute along with the private party, however, it would be interesting to see how the same facts will get treated in cases ahead as well as where dispute arises between private parties. In other words, in contrast to the discernible factor on the basis of which the ruling of S.K. Jain and ICOMM is deciphered. It poses a question of whether private law should be institutionalised. It will be intriguing to observe how this approach might enable the penetration of arbitrary clauses between two private entities in different sets of facts and formulation of pre-deposit clauses in arbitration agreements. It is possible that the Court could examine such an agreement using Section 23 of the Indian Contract Act, which renders contracts against public policy null and void. However, it's worth noting that this section is only invoked when the entire agreement is contrary to public policy. Whether it can be invoked when only one clause in the agreement is in question remains to be seen. [1] Shelal Lodhi Rajput is a 5th Year Student reading law [B.B.A. LL.B (Hons.)] at Symbiosis Law School, Pune (vidhigya.shelal88@gmail.com).