The Delhi High Court today permitted AgustaWestland to withdraw its arbitration proceedings against the Union of India..After the Rs 3,600-crore deal to acquire AgustaWestland’s WG21 choppers was called off, the Italian company had invoked the arbitration process against the Government of India, contending that the Union Ministry of Defence could not have unilaterally frozen payments..Thereafter, the Centre filed a plea to terminate the mandate of the arbitration in terms of Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996..Today, the order was passed by Justice Prathiba M Singh after the counsel appearing for AgustaWestland informed the Court that it would pursue legal remedies before a civil court in India instead..Accordingly, without prejudice to the rights and contentions, the Court allowed AgustaWestland to withdraw the claim petition filed before the Arbitral Tribunal within two weeks..It further stated that AgustaWestland may pursue the legal remedies before a civil court in India. The question of maintainability of the civil suit has not been examined by the Court, it was clarified..The notice of arbitration was issued on October 4, 2013. Justice (Retd.) BN Srikrishna was nominated as AgustaWestland’s arbitrator. Subsequently, on January 1, 2014, the Centre appointed Justice (Retd.) Jeevan Reddy as its arbitrator. Prof William W Park was appointed as the third arbitrator by the International Court of Arbitration in August 2014..AgustaWestland was represented by Advocate Anand Prasad, Trilegal Partner Ashish Bhan and Senior Associate Mohit Rohatgi. .Union of India was represented by ASG Pinky Anand.
The Delhi High Court today permitted AgustaWestland to withdraw its arbitration proceedings against the Union of India..After the Rs 3,600-crore deal to acquire AgustaWestland’s WG21 choppers was called off, the Italian company had invoked the arbitration process against the Government of India, contending that the Union Ministry of Defence could not have unilaterally frozen payments..Thereafter, the Centre filed a plea to terminate the mandate of the arbitration in terms of Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996..Today, the order was passed by Justice Prathiba M Singh after the counsel appearing for AgustaWestland informed the Court that it would pursue legal remedies before a civil court in India instead..Accordingly, without prejudice to the rights and contentions, the Court allowed AgustaWestland to withdraw the claim petition filed before the Arbitral Tribunal within two weeks..It further stated that AgustaWestland may pursue the legal remedies before a civil court in India. The question of maintainability of the civil suit has not been examined by the Court, it was clarified..The notice of arbitration was issued on October 4, 2013. Justice (Retd.) BN Srikrishna was nominated as AgustaWestland’s arbitrator. Subsequently, on January 1, 2014, the Centre appointed Justice (Retd.) Jeevan Reddy as its arbitrator. Prof William W Park was appointed as the third arbitrator by the International Court of Arbitration in August 2014..AgustaWestland was represented by Advocate Anand Prasad, Trilegal Partner Ashish Bhan and Senior Associate Mohit Rohatgi. .Union of India was represented by ASG Pinky Anand.
