March, 2005

The Arbitration & Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2003 initiated by the earlier Government is still pending in Parliament. Presently it is before a Joint Parliamentary Committee which is inviting suggestions from stakeholders and lawyers. The indications coming in from the new Law Minister are that the (new) Government is not in favour of incorporating the sea changes proposed under the original Bill; nor is it in favour of opening up any further the scope of judicial review. With this, the Government seems to have come a full circle and feels that it would not be prudent to divert substantially from the Model Law on which the 1996 Act is based. The Indian Council of Arbitration is also believed to have taken a view that the proposed amendment should not affect any “basic features” of the existing law, specially those based on Party Autonomy, Minimum Supervision and Interference from Courts.