The
Supreme Court on Friday reserved its verdict on the vexed legal question of
whether a person ineligible to become an arbitrator can nominate another as
one.
Before
the arguments concluded, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a five-judge
constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that the focus
should be on ensuring that arbitration as a mechanism to resolve disputes was
strengthened.
During
the arguments on Friday, the bench heard the submissions of several lawyers
including senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, N K Kaul and Gourab Banerji.
"This
is an issue where our focus on this side should be to ensure that arbitration
as a mechanism is strengthened and, therefore, I started by saying that any
arguments on either of the extremes would do harm to the cause which we are all
concerned with," Mehta told the bench, also comprising justices Hrishikesh
Roy, P S Narasimha, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The
top court had on August 28 commenced hearing arguments on the complicated legal
issue.
During
the arguments on Thursday, the solicitor general told the bench that the
government was interested in ensuring that arbitration as an alternative
dispute resolution mechanism grows and whatever hindrances are present and
preventing people from going for arbitration, especially the government
agencies, are taken care of.
The
bench had observed that there was a vital public and national interest in
ensuring that the process of arbitration was fair.
It
had heard submissions relating to provisions of the Arbitration and
Conciliation Act, 1996, including the one on appointment of arbitrators.
The
Law Commission of India's 246th report which dealt with amendments to the 1996
Act was also referred to during the arguments.
Two
references were made by three-judge apex court benches in 2021 for constitution
of a larger bench to consider the issue.
The
apex court had in 2017 and 2020 held that a person not eligible to become an
arbitrator cannot nominate another person as one. However, in another matter in
2020, the top court had allowed the appointment made by a person who was
ineligible to become an arbitrator.
The
CJI had in June last year constituted a five-judge constitution bench to
examine the issue.
On
February 21, the Centre had told the apex court that an expert committee headed
by former law secretary T K Vishwanathan has submitted its report on proposed
reforms in the arbitration sector to the law ministry.
Amid
a push for making India a hub of international arbitration, the government had
set up an expert panel led by Vishwanathan to recommend reforms in the
Arbitration and Conciliation Act in order to reduce the burden on courts.