Latest News
Arbitration and Conciliation (amendment) Ordinance 2020
Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020
On 4th November 2020, the President of India enforced the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance 2020. In this ordinance changes have been made to section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Section 36 of this act deals with enforcing arbitral awards.
The new ordinance of 2020 provides that arbitral awards are found to have prima facie induced by corruption or fraud, the enforcement of the award shall have to stay pending the disposal of a challenge against the award under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act.
The first amendment of section 36 was in 2015 it was done to so that if an application is moved under section 34 of the arbitration and conciliation act in order to challenge the arbitral awards, the filling of such application would not render the award unenforceable until the court stays the award for reasons to be recorded in writing.
The primary aim of introducing this ordinance is to ensure that the stakeholder party gets an opportunity to look for an unconditional stay of enforcement of arbitral awards where the basic contract or arbitration agreement or the making of the arbitral award are induced by corruption or fraud.
“The amendment of section 36 reads as:
“Amendment of section 36.
In section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in sub-section (3), after the proviso, the following shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 23rd day of October 2015, namely:
“Provided further that where the Court is satisfied that a prima facie case is made out,-
(a) that the arbitration agreement or contract which is the basis of the award; or
(b) the making of the award,
was induced or affected by fraud or corruption, it shall stay the award unconditionally pending disposal of the challenge under section 34 to the award.”.
Explanation. - For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that the above proviso shall apply to all court cases arising out of or in relation to arbitral proceedings, irrespective of whether the arbitral or court proceedings were commenced prior to or after the commencement of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015”.”
This ordinance dated fourth November 2020 has substituted Section 43 J with a new section which is named as Norms for accreditation of arbitrators. The new amendment of 43 J reads as follows:
“Substitution of new section for section 43J.
For section 43J of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely: -
Norms for accreditation of arbitrators.
“43J. The qualifications, experience, and norms for accreditation of arbitrators shall be such as may be specified by the regulations.”.”
The ordinance also omitted the eighth Schedule from the act.
This Article Does Not Intend To Hurt The Sentiments Of Any Individual Community, Sect, Or Religion Etcetera. This Article Is Based Purely On The Authors Personal Views And Opinions In The Exercise Of The Fundamental Right Guaranteed Under Article 19(1)(A) And Other Related Laws Being Force In India, For The Time Being.
- Amendment of section 36
- Substitution of new section for section 43J
- omission of Eighth Schedule
