Brief case: Ineligible person cannot name arbitrator

A weekly selection of key court orders

The Supreme Court last week struck a blow for independence and impartiality of arbitrators by ruling that once an arbitrator prescribed in a contract becomes ineligible to act as such, he cannot nominate another person in his place. It is a general practice in government contracts and even in some private contracts to prescribe its own managing director (MD) or a senior executive as the sole arbitrator. This has been challenged in several courts as giving undue advantage to the party which provides a works contract. 

There was an amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act in 2015 to bar such