In circumstances wherein an arbitration agreement is evidently found lacking or there is no concluded contract, the enforcement of an award must be refused – Jaldhi Overseas Pte Ltd. Vs. Steer Overseas Pvt. Ltd. – Calcutta High Court
July 1, 2023
Hon’ble High Court held that (i) The scope of enquiry to determine whether the award is in conflict with the ‘public policy of India’ accords the same discretion to a court under Section 34 as it does under Section 48. (ii) There must be consensus ad idem of the parties upon an agreement, which must further include an arbitration clause. However, an agreement and an arbitration clause therein may not be found in a singular document and can be gathered from the correspondence between the parties, which can be further corroborated by resulting conduct of the parties. (iii) This court should not substitute its own view, replace that of the arbitrator and venture beyond this preliminary determination, unless it is manifestly evident that there existed no agreement. (iv) The arbitrator’s view is sacrosanct and should not be substituted with an alternate view/opinion which this court may possibly have on re-appreciation of the evidence.
