Parties to an arbitration agreement are free to decide both procedural and substantive law #indianlaws

Parties (to the contract) in the present case intended to provide for two opportunities at resolving their disputes or differences. First was a settlement by arbitration in India (‘arbitration result’) and second was by arbitration in London, with intention to treat the second one as an appeal against ‘arbitration result’ in India. The Apex Court had to decide whether this was permissible under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act

The Supreme Court held that parties to contract have not by-passed any mandatory provision of Act. There is nothing in A & C Act that prohibits contracting parties from agreeing upon a second instance or appellate arbitration-either explicitly or implicitly. No such prohibition or mandate can be read into A&C Act except by an unreasonable and awkward misconstruction and by straining its language to a vanishing point.

Centrotrade Minerals and Metal Inc. v. Hindustan Copper Ltd.  15.12.16