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M/S Shaf Broadcast Pvt Ltd v. Doordarshan (A Constituent of Prasar Bharti)

Arbitration Petition (Civil) · 2019 INSC 1223Decided 7 Nov 2019
Arbitration Petition (Civil) No. 36 of 2019
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice Indu Malhotra · Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Background

Shaf Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. had a contract with Doordarshan containing an arbitration clause for a three-member tribunal. When a dispute arose and Shaf invoked arbitration, nominating its own arbitrator, Doordarshan failed to nominate one in return. Shaf therefore approached the Supreme Court under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, asking the Court to appoint an arbitrator on Doordarshan's behalf.

Decision Breakdown

With the consent of counsel for all parties, the Court departed from the contract's three-member tribunal structure and appointed a single Sole Arbitrator (a former Supreme Court judge) to adjudicate the entire dispute, subject to the arbitrator's declarations of independence and impartiality under Section 12. The Court fixed New Delhi as the seat of arbitration and directed the arbitrator to complete proceedings within the statutory 12-month time limit under Section 29A, disposing of the petition.

Lesson Learnt

When a counterparty fails to nominate its arbitrator as required by a contract, a party can approach the Supreme Court (for international commercial arbitration) or the relevant High Court under Section 11 to get an arbitrator appointed; parties can also mutually agree to simplify a multi-member tribunal into a sole arbitrator even if the original contract specified otherwise.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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