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Arbitration processes should be faster, says former judge

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: In spite of sweeping changes in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, there are still several areas which need attention to make the legislation purposeful and meaningful, says S. Natarajan, former Supreme Court Judge.

A grievance was that no time schedule had been fixed for completion of arbitration proceedings. Also, arbitrators fixed their fees based on each meeting held in the arbitration process. Though it would be difficult to fix with accuracy the exact number of meetings that would be required by each arbitral tribunal to render an award, the tribunal, could, however, take into consideration the nature of the dispute involved and the volume of evidence that would have to be considered and approximately fix the time schedule. Unless a case is a complicated one, normally a time frame of six to twelve months could be fixed for arbitration proceedings.

Mr. Natarajan was inaugurating a three-day workshop here on " international arbitration processes," jointly organised by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC).

As part of the efforts to quicken the process, the former Judge suggested that all preliminary matters such as preparation and filing of claim statement, filing of counter statement by respondent, filing of counter claim by respondent along with counter statement, filing of rejoinder by the claimant to the counter and all documents relied on by both parties could be completed before regular arbitration meetings started. A list of witnesses on each side could also be filed. Parties could file proof affidavits of evidence so that when arbitration hearings begin, witnesses could be straightaway called.

Mr. Natarajan detailed the advantages of the 1996 Act. He stressed the need for effective implementation of the legislation, commitment of arbitrators to bring proceedings to a speedy conclusion and the cooperation of the respective parties and their counsel to make the arbitration system a truly alternate redressal system.

G.V. Ramakrishna, Chairman Emeritus, CIDC, said a majority of arbitration cases in the construction industry concerned government and public sector enterprises. Explaining why the cases get prolonged, he said the general attitude of those working in government and public sector undertakings was to avoid taking responsibility. There was delay in filing reply.

He said various problems and issues relating to arbitration had been taken up with the Government, which had said the matter would be considered.

P.R. Swarup, Director-General and M. Subramaniam, Dean Emeritus, CIDC, explained the significance of the workshop and said this was the third in the series, the earlier two being held in Singapore and in New Delhi. A few more programmes on the subject have been planned. The SIAC and CIDC have also proposed to jointly train young professionals as arbitrators.

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