Impact of the Recent Reforms on Indian Arbitration Law

• Author: R. Moonka - S. Mukherjee
• Position: Institute of Law, Nirma University (Ahmedabad, India)
• Pages: 58-71

BRICS LAW JOURNAL Volume IV (2017) Issue 1

IMPaCT oF THE RECEnT REFoRMS

on InDIan aRBITRaTIon Law

ROHIT MOONKA,

Institute of Law, Nirma University (Ahmedabad, India)

SILKY MUKHERJEE,

Institute of Law, Nirma University (Ahmedabad, India)

DOI: 10.21684/2412-2343-2017-4-1-58-71

In order to give eect to the UNICITRAL Model Law on Arbitration and due to radical

change in its economy as the result of the 1991 New Economic Policy (NEP) India enacted

the 1996 Arbitration & Conciliat ion Act. This Act provides a pragmatic legal bas is for

resolution of commercial disputes outside the court procedures. It circumscribes the

older laws and consolidates multiple legal norms dealing with arbitration. However,

the experiences in application of this Act for the last 20 years suggest tha t it needs to

be amended as it contains serious drawbacks primarily due to poor legal technique

which necessitated excessive judicial interventions and judicial overreach having led to

resentment among those willing to resort to alternative dispute resolution under this

Act while keeping the seat of Arbitration in India. Several attempts were made by the

successive governments aiming at amending the 1996 Act. Yet all those attempts failed.

Finally the present Union Government under the leadership of the Prime Minister M r.

Narendra Modi was able to bring in sweeping changes in existing arbitration law. These

changes were carried out with the commitment of the Government in doing business in

India through the Ordinance route and proper legislative procedures which nally led

to the amendments having come into force on January 1, 2016. This paper attempts to

analyse the key changes brought through the 2015 Amendment Act and their impact on

the application of arbitration law in India. Moreover, the authors overview the prospects

of India to acquire the preferred position in International Commercial Arbitration in the

future as envisioned by the present Modi Government.

Keywords: arbitration; India; judicial intervention; Arbitration Amendment Act, 2015.