Arbitrator should not be made party to arbitration cases in court unless...What Madras High Court held

The Madras High Court recently reiterated that no arbitrator should be arrayed as a formal party to any arbitral proceedings pending before courts [The Chairman & Ors. v. Justice KP Sivasubramaniam & Anr.].A Bench of Chief Justice KR Shriram and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq stated that the arbitrator needs to be added as a party only in two cases- when seeking to terminate the mandate of an arbitrator or when there are allegations of fraud of corruption against the arbitrators. "A bare perusal of the said provision makes it quite vivid that the sole arbitrator or arbitrators constituting the Arbitral Tribunal shall not be added as respondent or respondents, except as contemplated under Rule 5(iv) of the Rules, which mandates that where allegations, including but not limited to proceedings under Section 14 of the Act and Clause (i) of Explanation 1 of Section 34(2b) of the Act, are made against one or more arbitrators, all the arbitrators shall be made respondents," the Court stated. The Court made these observations while dealing with one such arbitral case where a former judge of the Court, Justice KP Sivasubramaniam, who had acted as an arbitrator, was added as a respondent in a petition filed before High Court stemming from the arbitral proceedings..The Court referred to the Madras High Court (Arbitration) Rules, 2020 framed under Section 82 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act).Section 14 deals with failure or impossibility to act and governs situations where the mandate of an arbitrator shall terminate and shall be substituted by another arbitrator or where a party applies to the court to decide on the termination of the mandate or where the arbitrator withdraws from his office or a party agrees to the termination of the mandate of an arbitrator.Section 34(2b)(ii)(i) deals with applications for setting aside arbitral awards on the ground that the award was induced or affected by fraud or corruption or was in violation of other provisions of the Act.The High Court observed that although the statutes make it amply clear that arbitrators are not be added as parties, in almost all cases, they are named as a respondent in a routine manner. The Court, therefore, directed its registry to ensure that no arbitrator is made a party except in cases that fall under the exceptions mentioned above. "In our view, no arbitrator should be arrayed as a formal party to any arbitral proceedings. The Registry shall ensure that no arbitrator is made as a party to arbitral proceedings, except in cases enumerated under Rule 5(iv) of the Rules or where personal allegations of mala fides are alleged against the arbitrator. A copy of this order shall also be circulated to all the District Courts so that they shall also follow this dictum," the Court said in its order. .The appellants were represented by advocate TM Naveen..[Read Order]