‘India to be a hub for foreign arbitrators’
NEW DELHI: Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Lok Sabha on Friday that India will become a major hub for international and domestic arbitration under the Narendra Modi government.
Replying to the debate on the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Prasad said India’s ranking has substantially improved in terms of enforcement of contracts and said the country has some of the best judges and legal brains who are respected internationally.
The bill seeks to ensure that all stakeholders get an opportunity to seek unconditional stay on enforcement of arbitral awards where the agreement or contract is “induced by fraud or corruption”. The bill intends to replace an ordinance issued on November 4, 2020.
Prasad justified the ordinance route for the law, saying that it saves public money and also emboldens the legal options to act against any fraud even after an arbitrator has given his adjudication.
With courts flooded with public interest litigations, the
law minister took the opportunity to also appeal to the courts to only take “genuine” public interest litigations so that their time is not wasted.
“Today I appeal to the judiciary to exercise their discretion in selecting the genuine PILS,” Prasad said, adding that elected representatives should be the sole authority to handle governance issues.
The law minister said, under the law, which allows ample opportunities to create India as an arbitration hub, India will welcome foreign arbitrators. He also informed the Lower House that the central government is in touch with experts to seek suggestions on this issue.