In February, we disseminated a Commentary discussing
challenges parties to Indian cross-border transactions face when
they invoke contractual dispute resolution clauses.1
Among other things, we wrote that enforcement of foreign arbitral
awards faced unique hurdles in India. Fortunately, at least two of
these impediments have been eased.
Enforcement of Arbitral Awards
Arbitration in India is governed by the Arbitration and
Conciliation Act, 1996. Part I of the Act regulates arbitration
that is held within India (including international arbitration held
in India) and the enforcement of domestic Indian arbitral awards.
Part II deals with enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in
commercial cases and implements the 1958 New York Convention on the
Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
Part I of the Act generally follows the UNCITRAL Model Law on
International Commercial Arbitration. Among other things, it limits
the degree of judicial interference with arbitral proceedings,
requires judges to refer cases to arbitration where there is an
arbitration agreement, and specifies that "an arbitral award
shall be final and binding on the parties and persons claiming
under them respectively." §§ 5, 8.1, 35. However,
Part I contains a section -34(2)(b)(ii)- permitting an Indian court
to disregard arbitral awards if the court decided that the award
"is in conflict with the public policy of
India."2
Nevertheless, it was assumed for years that Part I applied only to
arbitral proceedings that took place in India and that a foreign
arbitral award could be enforced reliably in India under Part II of
the Act. However, in 2002, a panel of the Indian Supreme Court
ruled that Part I of the Act applied to a foreign arbitral award if
and when a party attempted to enforce the award in India under Part
II. See Bhatia International v. Bulk Trading S.A., (2002)
4 SCC 105; see also Venture Global Engineering v.
Satyam Computer Services Ltd., (2008) 4 SCC 190. Thus, a party
who successfully obtained a foreign arbitral award against an
Indian respondent still faced the challenge of relitigating the
merits of its case in the Indian courts when it took steps to
enforce the award. Indeed, an Indian court could refuse altogether
to enforce a foreign arbitral award if it concluded that "the
award [was] erroneous on the basis of record with regard to
proposition of law or its application." Oil & Natural
Gas Corp. Ltd. v. Saw Pipes Ltd., (2003) 5 SCC 705.
Fortunately, the Constitution bench of the Indian Supreme Court in
the recent case of Bharat Aluminium Co. vs. Kaiser Aluminium
Technical Services Inc. overruled Bhatia
International. In particular, the Court clarified that Part I
and Part II of the Act were not intended to overlap. Several
important conclusions flow from this ruling.
- Part I does not apply to international commercial arbitration held outside India. (However, Part I does still apply to such arbitrations if they are held within India.)
- Section 34 of the Act would apply only in cases where the seat of arbitration was in India. Thus, lawsuits brought in India to enforce international arbitral awards under Part II of the Act no longer face the "public policy" test of §34(2)(b)(ii).
- In international commercial arbitrations held outside India, interim relief such as lawsuits to enjoin the arbitration cannot be granted by Indian courts.
- Instead, Indian courts' jurisdiction over a matter arises only when a party comes to India and files a proceeding under Part II to enforce its award.
However, Bharat Aluminium has not removed all doubt.
- Its holding applies only to arbitration agreements executed after September 6, 2012; thus, the decision in Bhatia International will continue to control many disputes for years to come.
- Although it now is clear that Part I will not apply to proceedings brought in India to enforce foreign arbitral awards, §34(b)(ii) of Part I that is, the troubling section excusing the enforcement of awards that are "in conflict with the public policy of India" has anexact counterpart in §48(2)(b) of Part II.3 Thus, it remains possible that Indian courts handling Part II enforcement proceedings may still balk at enforcing certain foreign arbitral awards for the same reasons they cited under §34(b)(ii).
Gazetting of Additional Foreign Jurisdictions
India is a signatory to the New York Convention on the
Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, but it
limits its recognition of foreign arbitral awards to those
Convention countries that the Indian government
"notifies" in India's Official Gazette, a process
sometimes called "gazetting." Although most major
jurisdictions had been gazetted, China was conspicuous by its
absence. The Indian government remedied this on March 19, 2012,
identifying the People's Republic of China (including the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") and the Macao
SAR) as countries whose arbitral awards Indian courts would
enforce.
Footnotes
1. See "Dispute Resolution Issues in Indian
Cross-Border Transactions," available at
http://www.jonesday.com/dispute_resolution_issues/.
2. Although this language comes from Ch. 36, ¶ (1)(b)(ii) of
the UNCITRAL Model Law, courts in other countries have been
reluctant to invoke it and, even then, do so mainly when the award
implicated fundamental principles pertaining to justice or
morality.
3. §48(2)(b) states:
(2) Enforcement of an arbitral award may also be refused if the Court finds that- ...
(b) the enforcement of the award would be contrary to the public policy of India.
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