Introduction
An emergency arbitration ("EA") is an
arbitration mechanism where parties can seek urgent interim reliefs
prior to the formation of the arbitral tribunal. It is a time bound
process with the 'emergency arbitrator' expected to pass an
'emergency award' within a specified period (typically
around 14-15 days from the date of the appointment of the emergency
arbitrator). EA has become very popular over the past decade with
almost all major arbitral institutions having incorporated EA
provisions in their rules.
In India, the EA mechanism gained significant limelight during
the Amazon vs Future Retail1 dispute where, for the
first time, an emergency award was held to be enforceable by the
Supreme Court of India ("SC"). However,
despite the said judgment, is EA an effective mechanism in India
related disputes (i.e., disputes involving Indian parties or India
as the seat of arbitration)? Should parties, seeking urgent interim
reliefs, consider invoking EA or
