India: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration

The Hon’ble Supreme Court’s decision in Ujaas Energy Ltd. v. West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd., Civil Appeal No. 3619 of 2026, decided on 20 March 2026, is an important pronouncement at the intersection of Insolvency Law and Arbitration.

In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court of India, in Nagaraj V. Mylandla vs. PI Opportunities Fund-I and Ors. Etc.1, for the first time, has recognised the doctrine of ‘transnational issue estoppel’. It has clarified that findings of a foreign court at the seat of arbitration attain finality and operate as a bar to subsequent challenges in enforcement proceedings in India. The judgment further reiterates that the public policy exception must be construed narrowly and cannot be used as a vehicle to reopen merits of the dispute.

The Delhi High Court (“Delhi HC”), in Ircon International Limited vs. Afcons Infrastructure Limited1, has provided important guidance on the evaluation of critical path analysis and delay attribution in construction disputes. The Delhi HC examined whether an arbitral tribunal’s findings on delay, based on project schedules and critical path analysis, could be interfered with under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”).