Singapore deliberately chose to hype up the copy-paste of arbitral awards by former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to put Indian arbitrators in a bad light, Justice Hemant Gupta, Chairperson, New Delhi International Arbitration Centre said on Saturday.
Speaking at an India Legal Research Foundation symposium, Justice Gupta said though there may have been mistakes, the Singapore court should not have given so much adverse publicity.
Justice Hemant Gupta highlighted India’s capability to handle all disputes, citing abundant expertise across fields. He even suggested sports arbitration as a new genre, stating “there is no dispute without resolution” and stressing the need to trust Indian citizens’ dispute resolution abilities.
In an informal interaction with APN News Editor-in-Chief Rajshri Rai, he said judges have to un-learn the law when they shift to arbitration as neither the strict rules of Civil Procedure Code nor Evidence Act are applicable, which judges follow in the course of their judicial functions.
Speaking on adjudicating arbitral awards, Justice Gupta said people in the field of arbitration are hopeful of the setting up of an appellate arbitration tribunal will reduce the time taken for the finality of arbitration awards.
He said the government wants to lessen the justice delivery tier, but powers of the High Courts and the Supreme Court can’t be curtailed. The invocation of jurisdiction will burden the high courts, but it cannot be avoided.
Justice Gupta suggested the appellate arbitration tribunal could be a five-member body including a former Supreme Court judge.
Dwelling on the India International Arbitration Centre, he said the centre trains legal professionals in award writing to upgrade skills.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in arbitration was also discussed. He said though the use of AI in arbitration is a grey area, its use should be deliberated upon to understand where all it can be put to use. AI can’t replace humans, added Justice Gupta.
Asked how soon can the emergency arbitration process begin, Justice Gupta said on an emergency arbitration request, appointments can be made to a panel in two days. This is done quickly to avoid the intervention of civil court when invoked by other parties.
Justice Gupta added that they had proposed setting up an artibration bar with the Attorney General and some young practitioners in the field of arbitration.
Unlike court orders, arbitral awards don’t make it to the news and foster greater transparency. On this, Justice Gupta said if the awards can be redacted and made public, it will promote transparency in the process. This should be done with the consent of the parties concerned, he said.