Arbitration cases in courts should be heard by specialised division benches: Retired Justice Rohinton Nariman

Cases involving arbitral disputes should ideally be heard directly by a division bench comprising judges who have expertise in arbitration law, former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman said on Saturday. .Justice Nariman said that the present system of having a single-judge first hear arbitration cases should be done away with if India has to become a hub for international arbitration. ."When you challenge an (arbitral) award, you (should) go straight to a division bench. And the division bench, again, should be a specialised division bench dealing in these matters (arbitration cases) which are then taken up expeditiously and disposed of. Because once this is done, this place will really become a hub for international arbitration," Justice Nariman said. .The retired judge added that he has been making this suggestion for years, although it has not been taken seriously yet. "They have amended the (Arbitration) Act 'n' number of times, but they don't seem to take seriously the suggestion that the single-judge state should be removed altogether. There should be no-single judge (in arbitration cases)," he said. .Justice Nariman made the comment while delivering the keynote address at a session of the Delhi Arbitration Weekend which is being hosted by the Delhi International Arbitration Center (DIAC) of Delhi High Court in collaboration with the Supreme Court.Justice Nariman's address began on a lighter note on life after retirement. "I have been in a state of bliss for the last two and a half years since I have retired from the Supreme Court. Once we are out of that great institution, that bliss rarely gets disturbed, except when sometimes I am asked to give speeches like this, because it takes you back to your good old or bad old days when you were so flooded with work that there was little else you could do," he said. .The main focus of Justice Nariman's speech was on two judgments from the Singapore Court of Appeal, namely the cases of Republic of India v Deutsche Telekom and Anupam Mittal v. Westbridge Ventures. He discussed the various approaches taken in foreign jurisdictions when it comes to enforcement of arbitral awards or enforcement of judgments setting aside arbitral awards. He went on to observe that in such matters, Indian courts usually look at the relevant arbitration conventions closely, examine the other country's views on the convention and then arrive at their decisions on law and facts."The only problem (with the adjudication of arbitration cases in India) is the time taken," he added. .Justice Nariman was introduced to the audience by former Supreme Court judge Justice BN Srikrishna. As the keynote session drew to a close, Justice Srikrishna lauded Justice Nariman for his speech. "Looking at the number of people here, it reminds me - as students, we used to go to the most favoured professors. This is precisely what happens when Justice Nariman lectures. Whether you know the subject or not, you come out of the lecture room somewhat wiser than you were. Not a single-scrap of paper in his hand. Kudos to Justice Nariman. If we had more professors of this caliber and judges of this caliber, we would be a hub to everything in the world. Thank you very much," Justice Srikrishna said. .[Watch the Event].[Read live-coverage of event]