Appointment of Arbitrator by the Supreme Court of India

The present information article is aimed at explaining the legal provision, which allows the Chief Justice of India or any person or institution designated by him to appoint an arbitrator at the request of one of the parties to a contract by detailing the various facets relating to the power vested with the Chief Justice of India or his designate to appoint an arbitrator.

Preamble

Contracts entered into between parties for conducting business activities lay down the terms and conditions governing the commercial transactions. It so happens however disputes do occur which in accordance with the existing covenants in the contract would not help in resolution and the clause pertaining to appointment of an arbitrator or an arbitral tribunal are required to be invoked.
In matters relating to disputes in International or Indigenous Commercial Transactions or otherwise involving large transactions where despite existence of an Arbitration Agreement or Clause, one of the parties fails to agree on appointment of an Arbitrator leaving the other one as aggrieved in the context, an application invoking the jurisdiction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the ordinary original civil jurisdiction under Rule 2 of The Appointment of Arbitrators by the Chief Justice of India Scheme, 1996 may be preferred without losing any time so that if needed, a prayer for grant of an interim relief as may be appropriate in the circumstances can be made.

Scheme

In terms of the powers conferred on the Chief Justice of India under sub-section (10) of section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the Chief Justice of India under the Scheme devised by him and called “The Appointment of Arbitrators by the Chief Justice of India Scheme, 1996” can pass an order thus appointing an Arbitrator to address issues and disputes through an International or Indigenous Commercial Arbitration.

Application and procedure

An application in this regard can be made to the Chief Justice of India which shall essentially be accompanies by:

1. original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy thereof;
2. the names and addresses of the parties to the arbitration agreement;
3. the names and addresses of the arbitrators, if any, already appointed;
4. the name and address of the person or institution, if any to whom or which any function has been entrusted by the parties to the arbitration agreement under the appointment procedure agreed upon by them;
5. the qualifications required, if any, of the arbitrators by the agreement of the parties;
6. a brief written statement describing the general nature of the dispute and the points at issue;
7. the relief or remedy sought; and
8. an affidavit, supported by the relevant documents, to the effect that the condition to be satisfied under sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) or sub-section (6) of Section 11, as the case may be, before making the request to the Chief Justice, has been satisfied.

That the Chief Justice of India or any other person or institution designated by him for the purpose of dealing with an application as above shall dispose of the said application after intimation to the other party alongwith copies of all documents on its merits and after hearing both the parties.

Power to pass Interim Orders

In exercise of the powers for appointment of Arbitrators, the Chief Justice of India or any other person or institution designated for the purpose of dealing with an application for appointment of Arbitrators, the power to pass orders for interim relief in terms of section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 retains with the Supreme Court of India.

Net Lawman team in India is well versed with the law and procedures to deal with such applications to be moved before the Supreme Court of India in a professional manner and any inquiry with respect to filing or defending an application for Appointment for Arbitrator(s) can be registered at Contact us.