Constitution of high level committee to review Institutionalization of Arbitration Mechanism in India

New Delhi, Dec 29 (KNN) The Government has decided to constitute a High Level Committee (HLC) in the Ministry of Law and Justice to analyse and review effectiveness of present arbitration mechanism.

The Committee will be headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, Retired Judge, Supreme Court.

The Ministry of Law & Justice  said in a statement that Arbitration provides an effective and efficient alternative window for dispute resolution.

The Government of India has laid emphasis on making Arbitration a preferred mode for settlement of commercial disputes. 

The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 envisages quick enforcement of contracts, easy recovery of monetary claims, reduce the pendency of cases in courts and hasten the process of dispute resolution through arbitration, so as to encourage foreign investment by projecting India as an investor friendly country having a sound legal framework and ease of doing business in India.       

“In order to ensure speedy resolution of commercial disputes and to facilitate effective conduct of international and domestic arbitrations raised under various agreements, it has been considered necessary to go into various factors to accelerate arbitration mechanism and strengthen the arbitration ecosystem in the country,” said the Ministry. 

It is also important to examine specific issues and roadmap required to make India a robust centre for international and domestic arbitration.

 The other members of the Committee would be -  Justice R. V. Raveendran, Retired Judge, Supreme Court; Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, Judge, Delhi High Court; K.K. Venugopal, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court; P.S. Narasimha, Additional Solicitor General of India; Indu Malhotra, Senior Counsel, Supreme Court; Araghya Sengupta, Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy; Representatives of FICCI, CII; and Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs.

The terms of reference for the High Level Committee would be to analyze & review effectiveness of present arbitration mechanism; To review the facilities, resources, funding and manpower of existing ADR institutions; To review working of the institutions funded by the Government of India for arbitration purposes; To assess skill gaps in ADR and allied institutions for both national and international arbitration and more.

The Committee shall submit its report within a period of 90 (ninety) days.