Payal Chawla This article first appeared as three-part series on Bar and Bench on 09.09.2018, 10.09.2018 and 13.09.2018. On May 1, 2018, the Supreme Court referred the issue of manner of determination of a ‘seat’, when the ‘seat’ is not expressly agreed to by the parties, to a larger bench, in the matter of Union of…
The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 recently received Cabinet approval. The proposed amendments are based on the recommendations of the High Level Committee set up by the Government under the Chairmanship of Justice B.N. Srikrishna, former judge of the Supreme Court of India. The amendments are certainly well thought out, and are geared towards…
Payal Chawla This article was first published in Bar and Bench on 06.06.2018 The one area that the judiciary and Government are remarkably aligned on – is ensuring that India becomes the next arbitral destination. The Supreme Court, in particular, seems to be working at this with a sense of urgency. From a perusal of…
Payal Chawla This article was first published on Bar and Bench on 30.04.2018 Section 27 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act) makes a provision for the arbitral tribunal to seek the assistance of the court in taking evidence. Such assistance can be sought by the tribunal on its own accord, or by…
Payal Chawla Last year, the decision in the matter of Indus Mobile Distribution Pvt. Ltd v. Datawind Innovations Pvt. Ltd. [(2017) 7 SCC 678] was delivered by the Supreme Court. This decision was welcomed from the perspective of bringing quietus to the jurisdiction issue in domestic arbitration, and yet at the same time, criticized inter alia for being in the…
Payal Chawla An ideal investment agreement is one that enables a start-up investee company to thrive. The key is finding the right balance of rights and obligations between the investor and the promoter. Overly onerous obligations on the promoter can suffocate the freedom, nimbleness, risk-taking ability and ingenuity required by the promoter to make a…
Payal Chawla and Hina Shaheen The appointment of an arbitrator by one party to an arbitration agreement has been a vexed issue. The pre-amended Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) permitted such appointments, with certain limited exceptions. That these unilateral appointments have been the cause of much angst and litigation is not in dispute. The…
Franchising is a business model that has been effectively leveraged by the West in expansion of business, while splitting the cost and responsibility with the local franchisee. Payal Chawla Franchising is a business model that has been effectively leveraged by the West in expansion of business, while splitting the cost and responsibility with the local…