Legal provisions involved: Section 12(5), 21, 11, and Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996

Judgement by: Delhi High Court

Judge/Bench: Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla

Facts

A dispute arose from an agreement signed in January 2016. The matter went to arbitration and an award was passed against one party. That party challenged the award before the Delhi High Court, saying the arbitrator was not validly appointed. The Single Judge accepted this argument and set aside the award. The other side then filed an appeal.

Key legal provisions

 Section 12(5), 21, 11, and Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996

Issues raised

Whether an arbitrator appointed as per the contract is valid when there is no written waiver of Section 12(5)?

Arguments of the case

One side said the arbitrator was appointed according to the agreement. The other side argued that the appointment was one-sided and there was no written consent waiving Section 12(5).

Judgement

The High Court held that Section 12(5) applies strictly if there is no written waiver. Since the arbitrator was appointed unilaterally, the appointment was illegal from the beginning. The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the setting aside of the arbitral award.

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