Published in International Arbitration Law Review [Int. A.L.R. 2011, 14(4), 138-143]
ABSTRACT: In Videocon v Union of India, the Supreme Court of India held that an express choice of a foreign law governing the arbitration agreement would amount to the exclusion of jurisdiction of Indian courts in cases of international commercial arbitration. While the decision has been widely welcomed as progressive, this article argues that the judgment is a setback to certain essential concepts of international arbitration. It also attempts to answer some selected questions with respect to the nature of plural arbitrations–an important issue in multiparty contract arbitration that has escaped attention. The article argues that the impact of Bhatia International ratio has created a set of authorities in the last decade in India, which has made the job of the legislature more complicated than if it had been corrected earlier.
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Sumit Rai 