Arbitration and Conciliation, A Commentary

The present book is a sectionwise analysis of the 1996 Act and the amendments made thereto. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, is divided into five parts: Part I is headed “Arbitration”; Part I-A, “Arbitration Council of India”; Part II is headed “Enforcement of Certain Foreign Awards”; Part III as “Conciliation” and Part IV is “Supplementary Provisions”. The fundamental aim of this book is to provide its readers with a snapshot of how, when and where arbitrations are conducted in India. This book provides its readers with useful nuggets to provoke their thoughts on each section of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Supported by case law, the book provides an overall insight into the world of arbitration in India. This book will be of assistance to lawyers, Judges, professionals, teachers and researchers for building an understanding of law related to arbitration in India.

Avtar Singh's Law of Arbitration and Conciliation

The present book is an amalgamation of the law of arbitration, followed in India from 1940 till date Arbitration denotes a mechanism of dispute resolution, which is speedy and efficacious. The benefits that this mechanism of dispute resolution provides over the traditional model of litigation have not been unheard of. It is seen as a ray of hope for providing “justice” in a time-bound manner.

The present revision to Dr. Avtar Singh’s Law of Arbitration and Conciliation by Saurabh Bindal takes into notice the law related to arbitration in India as it stands today. The amendments of 2015, 2019, and 2021 have been covered at length in this book. The intent of the 2015 Amendment to the Act was limited to providing speedy justice to the people. Amongst the provisions inserted in the Act, seminal provisions were those related to fixation of timeline for conclusion of arbitration proceedings, provision of interim relief for arbitrations leading to a foreign award, omission of the automatic stay in case of domestic awards, etc.

As the Act was about to complete 25 years, with an aim to make India a commercial arbitration hub and reduce the intervention of courts, the government introduced amendments to the Act in the year 2019. The 2019 Amendment to the Act brings a lot of reliance on the arbitral institutions. It also focuses on the establishment of the Arbitration Council of India, which has been vested with powers and duties under the Act. Thereafter, came the 2021 Amendment to the Act, which focused on the deletion of Schedule 8 [inserted by the 2019 Amendment Act] and provisioning of grounds for seeking stay under Section 36 of the Act.

Since the publication of the last edition, the courts in India have interpreted the law relating to arbitration in a far-reaching manner. All these developments have been succinctly incorporated into the book.

This book will be useful for students of law who want to develop a skill set in arbitration in India. Practitioners, judges, and even general readers will benefit from reading this thoroughly updated book on arbitration in India.