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Rajesh Kumar vs. Union of India & Ors. and connected matters

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:8128Decided 21 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 13882/2026, W.P.(C) 13884/2026CNR: DLHC010450692026
Justice Amit Mahajan

Background

The petitioner's arbitration claim before the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), pursued after his civil suit was referred to arbitration, was terminated because he could not pay his share of the arbitrator's fees and DIAC's administrative charges. He asked the High Court to waive or defer this fee requirement given his financial hardship, and to direct the government to frame rules providing financial support to indigent parties in arbitration.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that Section 38 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 expressly permits an arbitral tribunal to terminate proceedings where the required fee deposit goes unpaid, with no statutory carve-out for a party's financial incapacity, unlike court litigation, where indigent litigants can seek a fee exemption under the Civil Procedure Code. It also declined to direct the government to create new policy or rules for indigent arbitration litigants, holding that is a matter for the legislature, not the courts, especially since the petitioner had not even challenged the constitutional validity of Section 38 itself. The petition was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

Private arbitration institutions currently have no equivalent to the "indigent person" fee-waiver available in ordinary court litigation: a real access-to-justice gap that the Court noted but said only Parliament, not the judiciary, can address.

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