Government decision to avoid arbitration in high stakes matters undesirable: Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul
Former apex court Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Saturday was not amused with the recent memorandum of the Union Finance Ministry wherein it requested Government and its entity or agencies to refrain from exercising arbitration when the amount in dispute is more than ₹10 crores.
The former apex court judge stated has that it is the opposite of what should have been done.
“Recently I read a circular where government says let us not go for arbitration in high profile cases, that is totally contrary to this… The issues which we are still facing is how far we go on this… Curial jurisdiction gives rise to a lot of debate among arbitrators. The signals in the arbitration circle is that should arbitration be there at all if one party is government – this is the signal… Spot arbitration is very important and mediation is also
Speaking at the occasion, Justice Kaul was officiating as the chief guest during the book Launch of Anirudh Krishnan’s Commercial Dispute Resolution – State of the Law in India. Some of the dignitaries present at the event were judge of Supreme Court Justice KV Viswanathan who was the chief guest.
The guidelines which were issued by the Union Ministry on June 3 also supported the government view that arbitration clauses in public procurement contracts should not be the norm.
The Ministry also said that the guidelines were developed from ‘unsatisfactory experience with arbitration’ involving the government. They only pointed out that the guidelines are broad and they allow arbitration of high value disputes after the exercise of mind by the relevant body.
The Arbitration Bar of India (ABI) and the Indian Arbitration Forum have also raised their most pertinent issues with the said memorandum claiming that such a move counteracts the government’s attempts at building a strong arbitration market in India.
In his inaugural speech, Justice Kaul spoke of the length of time taken to resolve business conflicts in India and said that the tribunals dealing with the same should be staffed by professionals and not become nobody’s job packages for retired judges.
Government decision to avoid arbitration in high stakes matters undesirable: Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul
He further affirmed that every commercial dispute should not end up being a never ending trial.
It was said that student lawyer who is not trained in economics and finance is a public enemy A lot needs to be done in terms of implementation In foreign countries only 3-4% of the cases falling under the commercial law category go to trial And here 99% of cases go to trial And multiple levels of trials And I think that one is sufficient for scrutiny.
Justice Viswanathan in his speech thanked Krishnan for the book he has authored and also highlighted how it has useful information for the current generation let alone the future with the expertise of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
‘As for this aspect, it has also been mentioned in the book that AI cannot be ruled out as inventor of parents and the role it play’.
