Supreme Court: “Government will take a call on the report but you circulate it to the parties. The report may be given to the parties by March 1, 2024.”
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New Delhi: Today (February 21), the Centre informed the Supreme Court that the expert committee, led by former law secretary T K Vishwanathan, has submitted its report on proposed arbitration sector reforms to the law ministry.
Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, informed the apex court that the Union government has yet to make a final decision regarding the report.
Acknowledging this, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud instructed the Attorney General to distribute the report to the concerned parties.
“The government will decide on the report, but you should distribute it to the parties. The report should be provided to the parties by March 1, 2024,”
-stated the bench, which also included Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
In 2021, two references were made by three-judge Supreme Court benches regarding the formation of a larger bench to address the issue.
The apex court had in 2017 and 2020 held that a person not eligible to become an arbitrator cannot nominate another person as one. However, in another matter in 2020, the Supreme Court had allowed the appointment made by a person who was ineligible to become an arbitrator.
The Supreme Court is now adjudicating the issue.
On June 26, 2023, the Chief Justice of India established a five-judge constitution bench to review the matter. Alongside efforts to position India as a key player in international arbitration, the government instituted an expert committee, led by former law secretary T K Vishwanathan, to propose amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act aimed at alleviating the burden on courts.
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Venkataramani also serves on this expert committee, initiated by the Department of Legal Affairs within the Union Law Ministry. Additionally, Rajiv Mani, an additional secretary at the Law Ministry, several senior advocates, representatives from private law firms, officials from the legislative department, as well as members from Niti Aayog, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), railways, and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) are among its other members.
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