Arbitration hijacked for commercial disputes, needs to reach grassroots: Supreme Court Justice PS Narasimha

Supreme Court judge Justice PS Narasimha on Tuesday questioned whether arbitration in India had become an elite commercial preserve, urging that this dispute resolution mechanism should be expanded to deal with smaller civil conflicts and everyday disputes that clog the judicial system..The judge was speaking at the India International Arbitration Centre (IIAC) at the launch of its first annual magazine, The Equilibrium.“Has arbitration been hijacked for commercial purposes?” he asked during his address. He went on to suggest that cases such as partition disputes between brothers and fights between two neighbours can easily and quickly be resolved through arbitration, but remain neglected.Justice Narasimha urged that arbitration be embedded into civil court ecosystems, including grassroots centres and court-annexed mechanisms.“Arbitration should become an integral part of small and simple disputes which arise and plague our system,” he said, emphasising the need for accessibility rather than exclusivity..Justice Narasimha said the success of institutional arbitration depended on whether stakeholders genuinely believed in arbitration as a viable dispute resolution mechanism.“How much do we believe that arbitration as a remedy for the resolution of disputes is viable or not?” he remarked, adding that trust in this system was still evolving.He warned that institutional integrity required not only ethical arbitrators but also ethical counsel.“Integrity is an integral part of not only of the arbitrators but also the lawyers who are assisting in completion of the arbitration. Without the total and complete integrity of both … institutional integrity is nowhere near,” he said..Launching the IIAC magazine, he said publications could serve as platforms for intellectual self-audit.“A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself,” he noted.He added that arbitration discourse must similarly comment, review, criticize and appreciate the domain to identify deficiencies and improvements.He suggested that the IIAC convert the magazine into a periodic platform, saying it should talk about the way the institution is working, the way the world is progressing, what new experiments are possible, and how arbitration and mediation can go together..He concluded with a call for institutional selflessness where no personal interests overshadow collective purpose.“Excellent, competent and capable individuals become part of the institution and they disappear… What would prevail is only the interest of the institution,” he observed. Only then would institutional arbitration be of great benefit to the country, he said..Earlier during the ceremony, IIAC Chairperson and former Supreme Court judge, Justice Hemant Gupta described the newly launched magazine as a crystallisation of the centre’s three-year journey since taking charge in December 2022.He recalled that Justice Narasimha, when he was serving as Additional Solicitor General, was a member of the Sri Krishna Committee that recommended key amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act and the creation of the India International Arbitration Centre.Justice Gupta remarked that this made Justice Narasimha “the founding member of the India International Arbitration Centre.""We are the privileged beneficiary of his vision at that point of time," Justice Gupta added. He said the publication captured the centre’s institutional growth and featured contributions from leading international arbitrators. He added that IIAC represented the maturing of India’s arbitration ecosystem into a statutory institution and expressed hope that it evolves into a globally respected seat..The IIAC also signed a collaboration agreement with Prayaya ADR Society and acknowledged contributors and student designers involved in the magazine’s creation..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.