An arbitral award passed by unilaterally appointed arbitrator(s) do not carry the privilege of existence before the eyes of law and should be regarded as a nullity – SREI Equipment Finance Ltd. Vs. Sadhan Mandal – Calcutta High Court
April 24, 2023
Hon’ble High Court held that normally, the Court would proceed to execute an arbitral award in the execution proceedings. But in a case like the instant one where the arbitral award is given by an arbitrator who has been unilaterally appointed by a party, the arbitral proceedings and the award itself stands vitiated as the arbitrator lacked inherent jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes between the parties. In fact, it is a settled principle of law that an arbitral award rendered by a person who is ineligible to act as an arbitrator cannot be considered as a valid arbitral award as the ineligibility of the said arbitrator goes to the root of his jurisdiction. Arbitral awards passed by unilaterally appointed arbitrators do not carry the privilege of existence before the eyes of law and should be regarded as a nullity. In other words, there is nothing to execute in an execution application seeking enforcement of an arbitral award which has been passed by a unilaterally appointed arbitrator.