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 ..read more

-Utkarsh Srivastava[1] and Gaurav Choudhary[2] Part I- Introduction The trajectory of the process of the appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter ‘Arbitration Act’) operates from a mechanism which gives primacy to the approval of a voluntary, party autonomy-based appointment which is sanctioned by the courts and in the event of a failure of such process, an appointment is made by the judicial system.[i] There has been a long-standing jurisprudence of how an adjudication has to be made by the courts when treating a Section 11 app ..read more

Avesta Vashishtha[1] INTRODUCTION The integrity and effectiveness of arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism rely on the fair and informed decisions rendered by arbitral tribunals. However, there are instances where arbitral awards fail to address crucial and contentious issues, leading to a miscarriage of justice and violation of public policy. In such cases, the appellate court sets aside the arbitral award delivered by the tribunal without considering a crucial claim, while exercising its powers of setting aside an award under Section 34 (hereinafter ‘Sec. 34’). The conti ..read more

Nitesh Ranjan[1] & Aman Upadhyay[2] ESG stands for Environmental Social Governance. In this globalized world industrial sector is flourishing at a very high pace. As such, it is inevitable to maintain a balance between environmental well-being and economic affluence. In this regard, certain standards and sets of guidelines are needed to protect the environment and in turn, protect the biotic components of the world. Introduction Environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) refers to a set of standards for a company’s behaviour used by socially conscious investors to screen potential inves ..read more

Aman Upadhyay[1] and Nitesh Ranjan[2] Introduction The structure of modern society is completely different from the ancient society, now disputes arise more frequently. Intellectual property is not immune to disputes, such as those resulting from registration, licencing, and infringement. The establishment of a peaceful and progressive society requires a quick resolution of these conflicts. It becomes a very cumbersome task to resolve disputes quickly and without much expense for a highly populated country like India. The courts are overburdened with already pending cases. Arbitration works as ..read more

Gautam Mohanty & Arnav Doshi[1] INTRODUCTION In a relief from a catatonic arbitration regime in the context of litigation funding, the recent Delhi High Court decision in Tomorrow Sales v SBS Holdings probed the possibility of recovering adverse costs from arbitral proceedings from third party funders. At the outset, the Delhi High Court in the aforesaid decision has solidified the position for third party funding (“TPF”). A brief version of the facts in the present matter pivoted around a Bespoke Funding Agreement between SBS Transpole (“Transpole”) and Tomorrow Sales Agency (“TSA”) which ..read more

- ,Prakhar Singh [1] & ,Manas Rohilla [2] The conundrum of determination amongst seat, venue, and jurisdiction in arbitration disputes has been the subject of discussion for a long time. Indian courts have attempted to answer it by applying the Shashoua principle, as per which the “venue” of the arbitration is in actuality its “seat”, unless there is a contrary indication or counter-indica. While much has been deliberated upon this issue, what amounts to “contrary indication” remains debated. This piece portrays how the Courts have interpreted “counter-indica” while applying the Shashoua p ..read more

Dalima Pushkarna[1] Introduction The Singapore International Commercial Court (hereinafter “SICC”) in CZT v CZU, dated 28 June 2023, clarified that an Arbitral Tribunal’s discussions/deliberations were confidential in nature, and the principle of confidentiality allows for the disclosure of these documents solely under highly exceptional circumstances. The exception to this rule of confidentiality is that only in extremely exceptional circumstances can these documents be produced. This landmark decision highlights Singapore’s pro-arbitration approach by marking the inaugural instance in which ..read more

- Vaibhav Pratap Singh and Vihaan M.N.[1] Introduction Mediation is a popular and effective method of alternative dispute resolution that can help parties find a mutually satisfactory settlement without resorting to litigation. However, one of the challenges of mediation is how to ensure the enforceability of the settlement agreement in case of non-compliance by one of the parties. One possible solution is to convert the mediation settlement agreement into an arbitral award on agreed terms, enforceable under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 [hereinafter “the Act”]. However, this opti ..read more

- Gaurav Rai [1] and Rakshita Singh [2] Introduction Dispute resolution clauses in such contracts generally provide for the dispute to be resolved by arbitration or in a multi-tier dispute resolution format. However, instead of resolving the disputes through arbitration, the parties may choose to amicably settle the dispute by way of a negotiated settlement between themselves. In some cases, the settlement arrived at may only resolve the ongoing dispute between the parties, while the parties continue to be governed by the contract's original terms, including the arbitration clause for any futu ..read more