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Swiss Timing Ltd. v. Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games 2010

Arbitration Petition · Neutral citation not assigned (Arbitration Petition No. 34 of 2013)Decided 28 May 2014
Arbitration Petition No. 34 of 2013
Justice S.S. Nijjar

Background

Swiss Timing sought arbitration over unpaid fees and return of its deposit for timing and results services at the Delhi Commonwealth Games. The organising committee resisted appointment of arbitrators because criminal proceedings alleged wrongdoing in the award of the contract. It argued that the contract might be invalid and arbitration should await the criminal trial.

Decision Breakdown

The Court allowed the petition and appointed the committee's arbitrator and the tribunal's chairman. The arbitration clause was legally separable from the underlying contract, and pending allegations did not by themselves extinguish it. The alleged fraud and contractual objections could be considered by the arbitral tribunal. There was no existing conviction or injunction barring arbitration, and the conditions for invoking the clause had been met. Arbitration could proceed alongside the criminal case, with any later conviction potentially relevant to resisting enforcement; the Court did not decide whether Swiss Timing was owed the claimed sums.

Lesson Learnt

A pending criminal allegation did not automatically suspend this agreed contractual dispute process. Appointment of arbitrators opened a forum to decide the competing claims without determining guilt or granting payment at that stage.

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

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