J U D G M E N T

R.F. NARIMAN, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The present batch of appeals raises an important question as to the construction of Section 26 of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as the “Amendment Act”), which reads as follows:

“Section 26. Act not to apply to pending arbitral proceedings.

Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the arbitral proceedings commenced, in accordance with the provisions of section 21 of the principal Act, before the commencement of this Act unless the parties otherwise agree but this Act shall apply in relation to arbitral proceedings commenced on or after the date of commencement of this Act.”

3. The questions raised in these appeals require the mentioning of only a few important dates. In four of these appeals, namely, Board of Control for Cricket in India v. Kochi Cricket Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. (SLP(C) No. 19545- 19546 of 2016), Arup Deb & Ors. v. Global Asia Venture Company (SLP(C) No. 20224 of 2016), M/s Maharashtra Airports Development Company Ltd. v. M/s PBA Infrastructure Ltd. (SLP(C) No.5021 of 2017) and UB Cotton Pvt. Ltd. v. Jayshri Ginning and Spinning Pvt. Ltd. (SLP(C) No.33690 of 2017), Section 34 applications under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the “1996 Act”) were all filed prior to the coming into force of the Amendment Act w.e.f. 23^rd October, 2015. In the other four appeals, the Section 34 applications were filed after the Amendment Act came into force. The question with which we are confronted is as to whether Section 36, which was substituted by the Amendment Act, would apply in its amended form or in its original form to the appeals in question.

4. The relevant facts of the first appeal namely, Board of Control for Cricket in India v. Kochi Cricket Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. (SLP(C) Nos. 19545-19546 of 2016), are as follows. A notice dated 18^th January, 2012 was sent by Respondent No.1 invoking arbitration under a franchise agreement dated 12^th March, 2011. A Sole Arbitrator was appointed, who delivered two arbitral awards dated 22^nd June, 2015 against the Appellant and in favour of the Respondents. On 16^th September, 2015, the Appellants filed an application under Section 34 of the 1996 Act in the Bombay High Court challenging the aforesaid arbitral awards. On 26^th November, 2015, the Respondents filed two execution applications in the High Court for payment of the amounts awarded under the two awards, pending enforcement of such awards. These were resisted by two Chamber Summons filed by the Appellants dated 3^rd December, 2015, praying for dismissal of the aforesaid execution applications stating that the old Section 36 would be applicable, and that, therefore, there would be an automatic stay of the awards until the Section 34 proceedings had been decided. The Chamber Summons were argued before a learned Single Judge, who, by the impugned judgment in Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.19545-19546 of 2016, dismissed the aforesaid Chamber Summons and found that the amended Section 36 would be applicable in the facts of this case. This is how the appeal from the aforesaid judgment has come before us.

5. As aforementioned, the skeletal dates necessary to decide the present appeals in the other cases would only be that so far as two of the other appeals are concerned, namely, Arup Deb & Ors. v. Global Asia Venture Company (SLP(C) No.20224 of 2016) and M/s Maharashtra Airports Development Company Ltd. v. M/s PBA Infrastructure Ltd. (SLP(C) No.5021 of 2017), the Section 34 applications were filed on 27^th April, 2015, and 25^th May, 2015 respectively and the stay petitions or execution applications in those cases filed under Section 36 were dated 16^th December, 2015 and 26^th October, 2016 respectively. In U.B. Cotton Pvt. Ltd. v. Jayshri Ginning and Spinning Pvt. Ltd. (SLP(C) No.33690 of 2017), the Section 34 application was filed on 22^nd February, 2013 and the execution application was filed in 2014, which