The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till September 13, the matter related to whether a person, who was ineligible to be appointed as an arbitrator himself/herself, could appoint an arbitrator
The Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice P.S. Narasimha, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manoj Misra passed the order after Attorney General R. Venkataramani and Senior Advocate Fali Sam Nariman sought adjournment in the matter for two months.
Appearing for the Central government, Attorney General R. Venkataramani contended that the matter could be deferred for a while till the committee gave its report, noting that it was a consultative process.
A 16-member expert committee was constituted by the Ministry of Law and Justice on June 14, to examine the working of arbitration law in India and recommend reforms in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
Headed by Dr. T.K. Vishwanathan, former Secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs, the committee was formed to limit the requirement for parties to seek judicial intervention by approaching courts.
Senior Advocate Fali Sam Nariman sided with the AG and said that an adjournment would be preferable since the reference by the government was on a new law to be enacted.
He said it seems to be the memorandum of the government, adding that he did not know whether the new law would be enacted or not.
The AG contended that the committee would not take more than two months to submit its report. Besides, the government would also try to expedite the process. The Centre would file a report in the court as soon as the deliberations were done, he added.
The Supreme Court then recorded in the order that the Centre has constituted an expert committee with a broad remit to consider the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
It said the Attorney General has submitted that the issues which have been raised before the Constitution Bench would also come within the remit of the committee. After the report of the committee, the government would take a considered view on whether the modification of legislation was warranted.
The Constitution Bench noted that Fali Nariman has also made the same submission as has the other party. Hence, the two references before the Constitution Bench have been deferred by a period of two months.
The Apex Court directed the Counsels to apprise it on the next date about the progress made in the constitution of the committee.
The top court of the country passed the orders on matters pertaining to the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification vs M/s ECI SPIC SMO MCML (JV) A Joint Venture Company and JSW Steel Limited vs South Western Railway & Anr.
The issue raised in the cases was whether a person, who was ineligible to be appointed as an arbitrator, could appoint an arbitrator.