The Arbitration Bar of India (ABI) has set up five expert task forces to address critical areas in the evolving arbitration ecosystem, including ethics, technology, treaty reforms, construction disputes and diversity in arbitrator appointments.
The announcement comes as ABI marks the first anniversary of its formation.
Each task force is led by senior members of the arbitration community and includes a mix of experienced practitioners and emerging voices. The task forces and their mandates are as follows:
Co-Chairs
Justice (Retd.) Rajiv Shakdher, Former Judge, Delhi High Court
Shashank Garg, Senior Advocate
Members
Aanchal Basur
Dr. Amit George
Moazzam Khan
Co-Chairs
Ratan Singh, Senior Advocate
Atul Sharma
Members
Sonal Kumar Singh
Sameer Jain
Co-Chairs
James J Nedumpara
Shreyas Jayasimha
Member
Mayuri T Agarwala
Co-Chairs
Payal Chawla
Nandini Khaitan
Members
Dr. Amit George
Mayuri T Agarwala
Co-Chairs
Zal Andhyarujina, Senior Advocate
Vikas Mahendra
Members
Nandini Khaitan
Vyapak Desai
Naresh Thacker
In addition to the formation of task forces, the ABI highlighted that it has engaged in formal policy advocacy over the past year. This included submitting detailed representations to the Ministry of Finance concerning the Office Memorandum governing arbitration involving public sector undertakings. ABI raised concerns regarding provisions that could “compromise the autonomy of the arbitral process and dilute party autonomy in institutional arbitrations.”
The release noted that ABI has also submitted its comments on the Draft Amendment Bill to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, describing it as “an opportunity to align India’s arbitration framework with global best practices.” According to ABI, its responses aimed to ensure that proposed reforms “promote efficiency without undermining the core tenets of party autonomy and institutional neutrality.”
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