Prospective Application Of The Arbitration And Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2015

Introduction

The new amended Arbitration Act 2015 ('Amended Act') was introduced on 23 October 2015 in the form of an Ordinance. Since its inception, various High Courts and jurists stood divided as to the applicability of the Amended Act and, particularly, whether such amended provisions would apply to proceedings instituted under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 ('Principal Act') because, at the time of promulgation of the Ordinance, the Government had not clarified whether the Act would have prospective application.

The issue of the applicability of the Act became a matter of speculation and a clarification was sought by the Madras High Court from the Central Government in Delphi TVS Diesel Systems Ltd v Union of India¹.