Indian Courts On Arbitration – 2021

In 2021, the Supreme Court of India and High Courts rendered decisions on various aspects of arbitration law. In their line of judgment, the courts continued the pro-arbitration and minimal interference trend. Courts ruled on international commercial and domestic disputes, including the arbitrability of disputes, party autonomy, the role of courts before and during arbitration and the challenge of arbitral awards.

Towards the end of 2020, the Supreme Court in Vidya Drolia v. Durga Trading Corpn., (2021) 2 SCC 1 and Suresh Shah v. Hipad Technology (India) (P) Ltd., (2021) 1 SCC 529 overruled Himangni Enterprises (2017) 10 SCC 706. It held that landlord-tenant disputes are arbitrable with certain exceptions. Vidya Drolia propounded a four-fold test to formulate the principle of non-arbitrability and indicated that courts should only interfere at the reference stage when it is manifestly and ex facie certain that arbitration is non-existent or non-arbitrable and