International Arbitration: A Healthy Export for India?

Every so often we hear distinguished speakers from hallowed forums express the desire that India should do this or that to become the next international arbitration hub. Today, we have heard this from the Parliament. I feel we should be careful what we wish for. Let me explain.

What does an international arbitration hub mean? It means a jurisdiction that parties internationally want to “seat” their arbitration at. Even arbitration which has absolutely nothing to do with that jurisdiction. In other words, what it means is that if say a South Korean and Indonesian party have a large value contract, they may chose a international arbitration hub – such as Singapore or London – as their seat of arbitration. Should we rather prefer they chose India? Why?

We are not Singapore, London or Paris. If you have any doubt, compare the dockets for a week of any of their higher courts with the dockets of any of our High Courts and you will know the difference. Our problem is not that there is not enough legal work (and I say that as a litigant and citizen; as a lawyer, of course, there is never enough). Our problem is we have too much of it. We are overwhelmed. Why on earth should we want two foreign entities to come and further clog our courts with the supervisory jurisdiction of their international arbitration? Ergo, hub is not what we need to become.

What about the international arbitration involving Indian parties? Yes, it does stand on slightly different footing, but is not the same rationale applicable? To those who can afford and are happy to have Singapore of London as seat, let them. It reduces that much burden at home. And no, Indian lawyers are not losing out. Most such arbitrations do have Indian lawyers engaged. For the rest, competition is a good thing. In my experience, it has pushed Indian law firms to improve and stand up as equals. It has benefitted the legal profession in India as a whole. The international give and take is robust and helps. What we lose is some dollars in arbitrator fee and probably administrative fee, but that is fine. We cannot corner every market. We have many others where we are indispensable. More cases in court is not what we need. International arbitration is, therefore, a healthy export for us.

Does that mean there is nothing that needs to be done to improve arbitration in India? Not what I said. We need not actively attract more, but we do have a lot already – and really a lot – which needs better handling. What we need is quicker turnaround in courts, when it comes to gateway issues – such as appointment, interim protection, etc. We need robust and strict review of Section 34 challenges in summary hearings at admission stage – a la the Delhi High Court style. Not every challenge needs a full hearing, defeats the very purpose. We need compulsory application of S. 31A to all arbitration related court proceedings without exception. This single move will reduce 90% S. 11 applications and maybe even 25% S. 9 proceedings. Fear of costs is very powerful, it is time we unleash it in Indian courts.

So, is it only the courts that’s holding back the arbitration scene in India? No. There can be improvements in the proceedings as well. We need some robust arbitration institutions beyond reproach. They are arriving, but we need more at all levels to handle the volume of low value arbitrations as well. Indian arms of the international ones would be great, too. But the LCIA India experiment did not live long. Maybe we need to study what went wrong and course correct. We need to facilitate setting up of local transcription services. That alone can speed up our proceedings by 3 to 4 times. We need to free procedure in domestic arbitrations from the shackles of Civil Procedure Code, particularly the harakiri that is proof of documents in our system.

To top it all, we need better attitude from us –  the lawyers and the arbitrators. I remember a decade back we used to complain about retired judges exclusively being arbitrators and approaching the job as a post retirement benefit scheme. There was some truth to it and, as usual, some hyperbole. Today, at least in Mumbai, more than 75% appointments by courts are advocates. Has that improved the situation? No.

The takeover of arbitrator appointment by “junior counsels” has only worsened the situation. Now it is not just the lawyer but the arbitrator as well who has no inclination whatsoever to sit for a hearing during court hours. We also fail to recognize that not every good lawyer can adorn the hat of a good judge. We have arbitrators as junior as 3 to 5 years into the profession. Maybe that’s a tad too early? Somehow, senior most partners of long standing are not considered for appointment, but a counsel with 3 to 4 years PQE is “neutral” enough. We need to change that outlook. Experience counts. There is a reason retired judges are preferred arbitrators. We must expand the pool, but experience should remain a criteria. Arbitration deserves respect, not just from court, but from its practitioners.

There is a lot we need to do. But inviting international disputes home is not one of them.  Once we have achieved the rest, even that will happen whether we want then or not. But, one institute here or there will not do it, Sir.

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10 CONSIDERATIONS FOR DRAFTING A ROBUST FORCE MAJEURE CLAUSE

In this post co-authored with Nitin Jain, Partner, Agama Law Associates, we look at the future in the backdrop of Covid-19 which has brought to focus the often ignored force majeure clause. We lay out 10 crucial considerations to keep in mind while drafting a force majeure clause. In our opinion, if these considerations are taken into account, a robust contingency clause might just save parties in the face of subsequent events overtaking underlying contractual assumptions beyond their control.
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SC Decision in BCCI vs. Kochi Cricket: Much Ado About Nothing?

First published on LiveLaw

After many rounds of deliberations and at least two Law Commission Reports separated by more than a decade (Report 176 in 2001and Report 246 in 2014), the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was finally amended on 23 October 2015 by way of an ordinance. The ordinance route was justified on grounds that the amendments were urgent to send the right message about Indian government’s intentions of making the necessary legal reforms for ease of doing business in India.

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Looking Through the Transnational Theory of Arbitration: Imagining Future Possibilities for Indian Law

Co-Author: Abhishek Dwivedi

ABSTRACT: Is India poised to be the next international arbitration hub? This paper suggests that it could,
but needs some course correction. The authors present a hypothesis that the seat theory of arbitration is undergoing a dialectical evolution. In this process, it is using the transnational theory (as its negation) to evolve into a more capable concept to tackle the challenges of modern international arbitration. India needs to create appropriate jurisprudential ecosystem to allow it to participate and contribute in this next phase of international arbitration’s evolution, rather than play catch-up, as it did in the past. Recent debates on false premises such as two Indian parties’ liberty to choose foreign seat and inventing a flawed concept of seat in domestic arbitration point to certain concealed conceptual landmines that must be deactivated at the earliest.

Pdf is available here

Online publication can be found here.

Is India losing the Litmus Test on Investor Protection by Preventing Vodafone from Invoking Arbitration under UK-India BIT?

First published on Kluwer Arbitration Blog.

India’s dispute with Vodafone has been one of its most publicized and long pending disputes with a foreign investor. Despite attempts at conciliation, parties remain locked in international arbitration under the relevant BIT. It may not be hyperbole to suggest that India’s approach to this dispute effectively defines its attitude to investor protection, at least so is the perception Therefore, when it recently chose to obtain an ex-parte injunction against Vodafone from starting an arbitration under UK-India BIT from a domestic municipal court (Delhi High Court), it came as a surprise to many.

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Court’s Power to Terminate Arbitrator’s Mandate: SC Settles Long Outstanding Debate

First published on IndiaCorpLaw Blog

In HRD Corporation v Gail (India) Ltd. (decided on August 31, 2017), the Supreme Court held that for any infraction of section 12(5) read with the Seventh Schedule of the amended Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “Act”), recourse to section 14 of the Act would be available and the court would have the power to terminate the mandate of the arbitrator in such cases. It clarified that this remedy would be available only with respect to the question as to whether the arbitrator was “ineligible” under any ground listed in the Seventh Schedule. As to the grounds relating to independence and impartiality listed in the Fifth Schedule, the Court held that the challenge procedure under section 13 of the Act would be the exclusive remedy.

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Appointment of Arbitrators: SC battling self created demons?

A recent reported judgment, Voestalpine Schinen GmbH vs. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (2017) 4 SCC 665, makes an interesting read. Of course, it is one of the first decisions of the Supreme Court interpreting the amending provisions in S. 12 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and must be of interest – but it is of even more significance because of what the court orders without reference to the dispute before it.

In brief, the controversy was simple – and would be recurring in the Indian PSUs context. The arbitration clause provided that a three member tribunal would be selected in the following fashion: DMRC would maintain a panel of arbitrators – serving or retired engineers of government departments or of public sector undertakings. It would send a name of 5 from the panel to Voestalpine to select one, after making its own selection from that 5. The two so chosen will then select the third from the same 5 names. Continue reading “Appointment of Arbitrators: SC battling self created demons?”

Suggestions and Comments in Response to Model Text for the Indian Bilateral Investment Treaty

This was the first international research initiative by Society for Research in Law [SRIL], a student-based organization [a society registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860], whereby comments and suggestions were submitted to the Indian government on the Model Text for Indian Bilateral Investment Treaty released for public comments.The report provided an in-depth research and analysis of the Model Text from international investment law perspective. The report addresses both issues relating to policy concerns surrounding foreign investor protection as well as the legal and interpretational issues likely to arise in light of the provisions of the Model Text.

The Project was conducted under the guidance of Mr. Sumit Rai.

The report is available here.

India Amends Arbitration Law: Some Great, Some Absurd Changes

First published on BlogArbitration

The 1996 statute which has been subject of much criticism, sometimes unfairly overstated, has finally been amended through an ordinance which was promulgated on Friday, 23 October. The ordinance is available here.

An amendment has been in the pipeline for longer than one might think, with the first law commission recommendation to amend the 1996 Act coming way back in 2001.

The second attempt began in 2010, eventually leading to another law commission report and recommendation for a new set of amendments proposed about a year ago. The intervening 15 years had seen a complete change in how arbitration was viewed by the courts and by the policy makers in India, and that is reflected in the approach the two law commissions took – one in 2001 and the other in 2015.

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Bhatia International Ratio under the Scanner at Indian Supreme Court

First published on BlogArbitration

As reported earlier, a five judge constitutional bench of the Indian Supreme Court has started hearing arguments in the widely followed review of the Bhatia Internationalratio. I review here, some of the most important arguments made in favour of confirming the ratio.

This decision of a three member bench of the Supreme Court had allowed for application of Part I of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Indian Act”) to arbitration seated outside India. Before moving on with the post, let me lay some background for those not initiated with the controversy, so that you follow the issues in contention in the present review

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