Institutional arbitration to resolve commercial disputes: CJI

Favoring institutional arbitration to resolve commercial disputes rather than ad hoc arbitration in India, the Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that the court interferes less into the arbitration and believes in the maximum realisation of award passed by the arbitrator.

According to Misra, “Ad hoc arbitration should be abandoned by litigants and disputes be referred to arbitration centre for more meaningful awards. Whole economy of the nation is based on trust, which is the backbone of economic growth.”

He further said that an alternative disputes resolution mechanism and a cost-effective arbitration system will help in the economic growth of the country.

“We know where interference is required. We see what could be the ground for minimum interference. It is not because of any kind of friendly attitude of the court. The court has to see what procedure was adopted by the arbitrator, whether his view is plausible or not. Most of the time, the court sees to it that the award is upheld,” the Chief Justice added.

Stressing on the honing of skills of the arbitrators, Misra said that time when the arbitrators need to be trained had come. Neutrality and impartiality of arbitrator is most important to gain the trust of the litigants. In the light of foreign direct investments and companies across the world intending to have business here, we should have our own arbitration system, he said.

Quoting Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, Justice Misra said that the theory of economics basically states there has to be economic growth because of trust. But despite the trust, disputes arise and it is through institutional arbitration that disputes can be solved.