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VIBHU BAKHRU
Himanshu Shekhar – Appellant
Versus
Prabhat Shekhar – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
Vibhu Bakhru, J.:--
1. The petitioner has filed the present petition under Sections 14(2) and 15 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereafter the ‘A&C Act’), inter alia, praying that the mandate of the Sole Arbitrator – Mr. Subhash Chandra Batra (hereafter the ‘Arbitrator’) be terminated and an independent arbitrator be appointed in his place.
2. The petitioner claims that the Arbitrator is ineligible to act as an arbitrator by virtue of Section 12(5) of the A&C Act. He is related to the parties and they have not entered into any agreement waiving their right to waive the ineligibility, in terms of the proviso to Section 12(5) of the A&C Act.
3. In addition to the above, the petitioner also avers that the manner in which the Arbitrator has conducted the proceedings, indicates his bias. In particular, it is contended that the Arbitrator has passed orders granting interim relief without any application to the aforesaid effect. It is further submitted that the Arbitrator has also passed orders against the persons, who are not signatories to the Arbitration Agreement or to the arbitral proceedings.
4. It is well settled that Sections 12 and 13 of the A&C Act provide for
Point of Law : It is not open for the petitioner to challenge the learned Arbitrator on the ground that there are justifiable doubts as to his independence and impartiality in terms of the Guidelines....
The court established that an arbitrator appointed by an ineligible individual cannot act, and waivers of objections regarding ineligibility must be expressed in writing, not inferred by conduct.
An ineligible arbitrator appointed unilaterally violates Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, rendering the arbitral award invalid.
Previous judicial involvement does not disqualify an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, as long as independence and impartiality are maintained.
Arbitral Tribunal consisting of officers of State have become ineligible to become Arbitrators and to continue as Arbitrators.
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