Justice Deepak Gupta, Judge, Supreme Court roots for institutional arbitration as way forward in resolving commercial disputes

Feb 02, 2019

 

NEW DELHI, 2 February 2019. Mr Justice Deepak Gupta, Judge, Supreme Court of India, today rooted for institutional arbitration for cheaper and speedier resolution of commercial disputes as the legal process is extremely slow with courts being beleaguered with the pendency of over 2 crore cases.

 

Inaugurating the conference on 'Strengthening Arbitration in India: The Way Forward', organised by the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA), an allied body of FICCI, Mr. Justice Gupta said that India ranked poorly (62^nd position out of 113 countries) in adherence to the law and if the parties involved in a commercial dispute were  honest and approached reconciliation in right earnest, resolution would become easy.

 

He suggested imposition of exemplary costs on frivolous litigation. Faith between disputing parties and in the arbitral process, he said, was critical and this would come only with institutional arbitration.

 

Mr. Justice Gupta flayed what he described as "weekend arbitration" and said, "Arbitration cannot be part-time activity for the arbitrators. It has to be a full-fledged activity. Institutional arbitration, he said, also inculcates a sense of discipline amongst the arbitrators. The guidelines for the proceedings are laid down and known and accordingly the chances of court interference as less. Further, the cost of arbitration comes down when the process is institutionalised as the institution hosting the proceedings provides for conference halls, video conferencing and translation facilities.

 

Mr N G Khaitan, President, ICA and Senior Partner, Khaitan & Co., called for shunning ad-hoc arbitration and suggested that all commercial contracts should have an in-built provision for conciliation in the shape of arbitration.

 

He stressed the need for third party funding to defray arbitration costs, promote a culture of arbitration, adopt modern technology, treat arbitration as a full-time profession and create an environment where the commercial disputes in BRICS countries are dealt with in India.

 

Ms Geeta Luthra, Vice President, ICA and Senior Advocate, pointed out that conflict was inevitable in the commercial world, but combat is an option. She emphasised the importance of a provision for conciliation through arbitration in contracts as the way forward.

 

At a panel discussion later, chaired by Ms Justice Hima Kohli, Judge, Delhi High Court and  eminent speakers - Mr Ashok Sharma, Director Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Advocate and Member, Governing Body, ICA; Mr Sanjeev Kapoor, Partner, Khaitan & Co.; Mr Tejas Karia, Partner and Head-Arbitration, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas; Mr Ganesh Chandru, Executive Partner, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan; and Ms Neeti Sachdeva, Registrar & Secretary General, Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration, shared their perspectives on the topic.