On Recusal Of Arbitrator Appointed By Court U/S 11 Of Arbitration Act, Substitute Arbitrator Can Be Appointed U/S 15(2): Uttarakhand HC
Live LawThe Uttarakhand High Court bench of Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari has held that on recusal of previously appointed Arbitrator appointed by the court under section 11 of the Arbitration Act, a substitute Arbitrator can be appointed by the court under section 15 of the Arbitration Act. Brief Facts The present application under section 11 read with section 15 of the Arbitration Act has been filed, seeking appointment of a substitute arbitrator after the recusal of the previously appointed arbitrator. “Thus, on account of recusal of the sole Arbitrator, a substitute Arbitrator has to be appointed and if the agreement between the parties is silent regarding appointment of Arbitrator, then provision contained in Section 15 would be attracted and this Court will have to appoint the Arbitrator.” The court also noted that in Tricolor Hotels Limited & others Vs. Dinesh Jain & others,2022 the Delhi High Court while noting the Judgment of the Bombay High Court in Sap India Private Limited v. Cox and Kings Limited, 2019 has held that once the Court appoints an arbitrator by an order passed on an application under Section 11 of the Act, and a vacancy arises on the arbitral tribunal on account of any of the circumstances as set out under Section 14 and/or Section 15 of the Act, then necessarily Section 15 becomes operational for appointment of a substitute arbitrator and it would be the Court which would be required to be approached to fill up the vacancy. “The above position in law is implicit from the provisions of subsection 2 of Section 15 of the Act when the provision says that when the mandate of an arbitral tribunal terminates, a substitute arbitrator shall be appointed “according to the rules that were applicable to the appointment of an arbitrator being replaced”.” It further added that respondent waived the right to raise the objection regarding legal capacity of the applicant to move application for appointment of Arbitrator, therefore, he cannot be permitted to raise this objection at this belated stage, when the Arbitrator earlier appointed recused and applicant has prayed for appointment of substitute Arbitrator. Finally, the court observed that “in the present case, since the earlier Arbitrator was appointed by this Court under Section 11 of Arbitration & Conciliation Act and, in the Arbitration Agreement, there is no specific provision dealing with appointment of Arbitrator or substitute Arbitrator, therefore, this Court is of the considered opinion that the prayer made by the applicant deserves to be allowed.” Case Title: Shri Rajendra Mimani Versus Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited Case Number:Arbitration Application No.