Arbitration In India: Overview 2008

First published in International Bar Association's Arbitration Newsletter, March 2009

The Indian Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (Act) is faithfully based on the Model Law. The Indian Supreme Court's interpretation of the law however has been somewhat controversial and (some would say), at variance with the Model Law. This past year saw some significant, far reaching and controversial judgments being delivered by the Supreme Court. This note presents a snapshot:

(i) Venture Global Engineering v. Satyam Computer Services

The year started with a bang when on the 10^th of January 2008 the Court pronounced the Venture Global Judgment. Before we get into the judgment it may be worthwhile to outline the provisions of the Act relating to enforcement of arbitral awards: