Arbitration & Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 Passed By Parliament

The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 ('Amendment Act') was passed by both houses of parliament in the winter session, pursuant to which it has received Presidential assent on 31 December 2015. The Act was notified in the Gazette of India on 1 January 2016 and has now come in to force.

On 23 October 2015, the Government of India through an executive action had promulgated the Arbitration and Conciliation Ordinance 2015 ('the Ordinance') bringing about large scale changes to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 with the intention expediting the process and reducing court interference.

The Ordinance was welcomed but one of the contentious issue was whether it applied to fresh arbitrations or pending arbitration proceedings also. The Madras High Court in Delphi TVS Diesel Systems v Union of India W.P. No. 37355 of 2015 issued a notice to the Central Government seeking a clarification on whether the provisions of the Ordinance had a prospective