Supreme Court Reiterates That A Party Cannot Initiate Fresh Arbitration Proceedings After Abandoning Earlier Arbitration Proceedings

The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in Rajiv Gaddh v. Subodh Parkash, 2026 INSC 302 reiterated that a party cannot initiate proceedings for appointment of an arbitral tribunal under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act) after abandoning earlier arbitration proceedings relying on Order 23, Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC).

 In the facts, disputes arose between Rajiv Gaddh, Subodh Parkash and others pursuant to a 2013 agreement under which they agreed to jointly invest in land in Hoshiarpur, Punjab.  Subodh Parkash initiated arbitration proceedings in 2015 by way of an application for appointment of an arbitral tribunal under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration Act and participated in the arbitration proceedings intermittently till 2019.By way of a communication dated 29 August 2019, Subodh Parkash unequivocally stated that he would not participate further in the arbitration proceedings and alleged bias against the arbitrator. The arbitral