As per the direction of the High Court of Kerala all the National Highway Act, 1956’s arbitration proceedings which are currently pending have to be kept on hold for the time being until other directions are given. At the same time, the High Court has also stated that if any of the parties in the legal proceeding wishes to move forward before the District Collector, they can go ahead.
Brief details of Chandramohanan K.C vs Union of India (2023)
| Name of the case | Chandramohanan K.C vs Union of India |
| Case number | WA 1784/2023 |
| Parties of the case | Petitioner – Chandramohanan K.CRespondent – Union of India |
| Equivalent citations | W.A. No.1784 of 2023 and W.P. (C) Nos.28555 of 2021, 789, 22779 & 25045 of 202 |
| Type of the case | Writ Appeal |
| Court | High Court of Kerala |
| Statutes, provisions, judgements Involved In the case | Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996National Highways Act, 1956 |
| Bench | Honourable Mr. Justice A.Muhamed MustaqueHonourable Mr.Justice P. Krishna Kumar |
| Judgement date | Next hearing in May, 2025 |
Genesis of the dispute
In the case of Chandramohanan K.C vs Union of India (2023), the landowners in Kerala were not satisfied with the compensation which they were given in exchange for their land in the highway projects. The petitioner has claimed that the District Collectors have not given them the chance to submit the evidence which leads to compromising the fairness in the process. A halt was ordered by the Kerala High Court to all such arbitration proceedings which are pending till further notice.
Legal provisions involved in this case
Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
This Section states that the arbitral award can only be challenged on limited grounds. These limited grounds are mentioned under this section. The petitioners in this case have argued that many awards were made without proper hearings and parties were not given a chance to submit any evidence. Section 34(1) limits the scope of challenging these flawed awards.
Key issues in Chandramohanan K.C vs Union of India (2023)
- Whether the arbitration proceedings conducted by the District Collectors violated the principle of natural justice?
- Whether the arbitration awards were issued without proper hearings?
Arguments by petitioner in Chandramohanan K.C vs Union of India (2023)
- The petitioner has argued that the District Collector appointed to resolve the matters was not providing the parties a proper hearing.
- It was also further argued that in many cases, an opportunity to submit the evidence to back their claims was not given.
- The case of the Central Organization for Railway Electrification vs. ECI SPIC SMO MCML (JV) A Joint Venture Company (2024) was citied in the case against appointment of District Collectors as arbitrators.
Judicial findings in Chandramohanan K.C vs Union of India (2023)
The High Court of Kerala has acknowledged that the District Collector cannot act in full capacity due to the volume of the arbitration cases and other administration duties. Further, the court also observed that as many decisions were made without proper hearing and arbitration awards were awarded this undermined the fairness of the entire procedure. This was a violation of natural justice.
The High Court has currently ordered a stay on all arbitration proceedings. The court has also directed the Union Government to check if there are any other alternative ways like Kerala High Court Arbitration Center, which consists of trained arbitrators. However, the court has also given the freedom to the parties to proceed before the District Collectors if they want to.
Takeaways
This case is currently pending and an order for a stay is directed by the Kerala High Court. The right to fair proceeding is protected under the case by halting all the arbitration cases till further notice. The courts will always intervene when the executive authorities fail in providing justice. The current arbitration proceedings are allowed if the parties choose to follow the same, while new and alternative way to solve this problem is also being looked on the side.
