Supreme Court Confirms Position On Arbitral Awards

The Supreme Court of India ("SC") has today delivered an eagerly awaited judgment settling the law concerning applicability of Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("Act") on international commercial arbitrations held outside India. The controversy had taken a centre stage following the judgments of the SC in Bhatia International vs. Bulk Trading S.A. & Anr. and Venture Global Engineering vs. Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

In the year 2002, the three Judges Bench of the SC in the matter of Bhatia International held that the provisions of Part I of the Act would apply to all arbitrations and to all proceedings relating thereto, including the international commercial arbitrations held out of India unless the parties by agreement, express or implied, had excluded all or any of its provisions. Thereafter, in the year 2008 in the case of Venture Global, the SC not only discussed the ratio and observations made in Bhatia International but also extended its