Published on: 24 September 2023 at 10:30 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: SBP & Co. V. Patel Engg. Ltd. (2005)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of the High Court exercise their Judicial Powers under the aegis of Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for appointment of the Arbitrator. It is held that the decision of the Hon’ble Court for appointment of Arbitrator under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is not appealable and only option available is Special Leave Petition under aegis of Article 136 of the Constitution of India.
(i) The power exercised by the Chief Justice of the High Court or the Chief Justice of India under Section 11(6) of the Act is not an administrative power. It is a judicial power.
(ii) The power under Section 11(6) of the Act, in its entirety, could be delegated, by the Chief Justice of the High Court only to another Judge of that Court and by the Chief Justice of India to another Judge of the Supreme Court.
(iv) The Chief Justice or the designated Judge will have the right to decide the preliminary aspects as indicated in the earlier part of this judgment. These will be his own jurisdiction to entertain the request, the existence of a valid arbitration agreement, the existence or otherwise of a live claim, the existence of the condition for the exercise of his power and on the qualifications of the arbitrator or arbitrators. The Chief Justice or the designated Judge would be entitled to seek the opinion of an institution in the matter of nominating an arbitrator qualified in terms of Section 11(8) of the Act if the need arises but the order appointing the arbitrator could only be that of the Chief Justice or the designated Judge.
(vii) Since an order passed by the Chief Justice of the High Court or by the designated Judge of that Court is a judicial order, an appeal will lie against that order only under Article 136 of the Constitution to the Supreme Court.
(viii) There can be no appeal against an order of the Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court designated by him while entertaining an application under Section 11(6) of the Act.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra