Order Refusing To Terminate Arbitration Is Not An Interim Award: Bombay High Court Dismisses Challenge U/S 34 A&C Act

The Bombay High Court dismissed a petition under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act) challenging an order passed by the Arbitral Tribunal by which it had refused to terminate the ongoing proceedings holding that the order was merely a prima facie view, interlocutory one and not an arbitral award capable of being challenged. Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan held that a company's invocation of arbitration cannot be treated as non est merely because it...

Arbitral Tribunal Cannot Rewrite Executed Contract Using Internal Notings: Bombay High Court Sets Aside Award Against Konkan Railway

The Bombay High Court set aside a majority arbitral award that had directed Konkan Railway to bear Royalty Charges for earth used in a Madhya Pradesh project holding that the arbitral tribunal acted in contravention of the contractual terms and committed patent illegality by relying on internal tender committee minutes to infer a different intention of the parties. Justice R.I. Chagla held that once the contract placed royalty liability on the contractor, the tribunal could not rewrite...

Multiple Remand Orders U/S 37 A&C Act “Unworkable” Without Reversing Findings On Merits: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court held that multiple remand orders issued by courts under section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act) without disturbing or reversing the findings on merits recorded by earlier Single Judges were incapable of implementation. The court found the situation unprecedented and unusual holding that the statutory scheme of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) does not permit a wholesale de novo remand unless the appellate court first reverses the...

Tariff During Registration Was To Remain Fixed For 25 Years; CSPDCL Waived Its Rights: Delhi High Court Allows IREDA's Appeal Over GBI Scheme

The Delhi High Court Bench of Chief Justice and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela has observed that under the Generation Based Incentive Scheme (GBI) Scheme, 2010 by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the tariff at the time of registration of project would remain constant for a period of 25 years and any upward revision of tariff by State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (“SERC”) from back date shall not be counted. The Court denied relief to Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Co Ltd. in...

Suspension Of Proceedings By Arbitrator For Non-Payment Of Revised Fees Amounts To Effective Withdrawal From Office: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court held that an arbitrator who suspended the proceedings indefinitely on the ground of non-payment of revised fees and thereafter failed to conduct hearings must be deemed to have withdrawn from office under section 15 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act). The court further held that the arbitrator's mandate had also expired by efflux of time under section 29A of the Arbitration Act thereby necessitating the appointment of a substitute ...

Award Holder Cannot Claim Compound Interest When Tribunal Grants Only Simple Interest In Arbitral Award: Meghalaya High Court

The Meghalaya High Court set aside an order of the Commercial Court, Shillong which had accepted the calculation of the award holder's method of calculating interest and directed Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) to pay the remaining amount under an arbitral award. The Court held that the Executing Court had effectively modified the award by permitting computation of compound interest when the award simply contemplated only simple interest. Justice B. Bhattacharjee held that...

Delhi High Court Revives Motorola's 17-Year-Old Dispute With MTNL Over Arbitral Award Amounting To $8,768,505

The Delhi High Court allowing a Section 37, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“ACA”) appeal filed by MTNL against an arbitral award passed in favour of Motorola amounting to ~USD 8,768,505 has revived a 17-year-old between the parties. The Bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar set aside the judgment passed by a Single Judge of the Court in 2017 whereby the arbitral award was upheld. The Court remanding the matter for reconsideration by the Single...

'Denial Of Relevant Information To Party By Arbitral Tribunal Amounts To Violation Of Due Process': Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that an arbitral award passed without granting access to relevant documents or materials to one of the parties amounts to a violation of the principles of natural justice and due process. The Court observed that the arbitral tribunal's refusal to supply such documents deprived the party of a fair opportunity to defend its case, thereby rendering the arbitral proceedings fundamentally flawed.Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan was hearing an appeal filed by Iqbal Trading...

'Absence Of Arbitration Clause In Agreement Does Not Render Dispute Non-Arbitrable': Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that the absence of an independent arbitration clause in a supplemental agreement, when the principal agreement contains an arbitration clause, does not render the dispute non-arbitrable. The Court ruled that a supplemental agreement, merely ancillary to the principal agreement, which seeks to record that the consideration under the Development Agreement stands discharged, is an adjectival element of the substance of the Development Agreement.Justice Somasekhar...

[LLP Act] Partners Bound To Refer Disputes To Arbitration Even Without Such Clause In Agreement Under Entry 14 Of First Schedule: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court has said that Entry 14 of the First Schedule of the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008 is in effect a statutory and compulsory arbitration, which is required to be adhered to by the partners in a limited liability partnership.For Context: Entry 14 of the First Schedule of LLP Act, 2008 reads thus: All disputes between the partners arising out of the limited liability partnership agreement which cannot be resolved in terms of such agreement shall be referred for...

CERC's Powers To Refer Disputes To Arbitration Extends To Even Those Cases Which Fall Outside Its Jurisdiction: Delhi High Court

In a noteworthy judgment for the renewable energy sector, the Delhi High Court has observed that the power of Central Electricity Commission (“CERC”) under Section 79(1)(f), Electricity Act to refer parties to arbitration is wider than its power to adjudicate. A bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed that CERC in exercise of its adjudicatory powers can only adjudicate upon disputes connected with Section 79(1)(a)-(d). However, while exercising its referral powers, it can...

Madras High Court Stays Release Of “Kumki 2” Movie Amidst Money Dispute

The Madras High Court has temporarily stayed the release of the Tamil movie “Kumki 2” amidst money disputes between a financier and the producers of the movie. Justice Anand Venkatesh passed the interim orders on a petition filed by S.Chandraprakash Jain under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act seeking an ad interim injunction restraining the distribution and release of the movie. The court ordered a stay till December 3, after noting that there was a prima facie case in...