If India has to develop as a preferred arbitration seat, courts in the country must resist the temptation to re-hear arbitration disputes on merits, Senior Advocate Darius Khambata said on September 5 ..The senior lawyer was speaking at the Gujarat High Court Arbitration Centre (GHAC) Arbitration Week in GIFT City on ‘Rules of Private International Law in International Commercial Arbitration. He explained that non-interference from courts means resisting the temptation to decide the matter. “In arbitration, the justice of the case requires that a court respect the decision of the parties that an arbitral tribunal decides, and not a judge. That's the justice of the case,” he added. .Khambata urged courts to explicitly frame challenge grounds immediately instead of re-hearing the entire disputes on merits.“If you have a good judicial ecosystem and a good legislative ecosystem that really makes for a very successful seat,” he said. He also highlighted Singapore’s practice of institutional humility. “With all its success, every single month and year the Singaporeans are thinking of how we can improve? Where have we gone wrong? Did we do it right? That is a quality that is a very rare one. That is an essential factor for a good seat,” Khambata said..King’s Counsel Thomas Williams, Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (AIADR) Founding President Datuk Professor Sundra Rajoo and Clifford Chance Partner Nish Shetty were co-panelists at the session, The session was moderated by Barrister Anirudh Krishnan. Shetty observed that commercial parties routinely neglect drafting arbitration clauses during initial contract negotiations. The King’s Counsel explained that Section 6A of England’s Arbitration Act 2025 establishes the law of the seat as the default governing law for arbitration agreements, effectively abolishing implied choice.Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (AIADR) Founding President Datuk Professor Sundra Rajoo also highlighted Malaysia's 2024 statutory amendment adopting a similar seat-default rule to maintain commercial certainty..In a separate fireside chat, former Singapore Court of Appeal Judge VK Rajah SC emphasised that a pro-arbitration jurisdiction must rigorously review challenged awards against international standards rather than uphold every outcome. “Appeals will ultimately, if the doors open too wide, lead to further delay,” Rajah warned. .He pointed out that globally only about 10 percent of the set-aside applications succeed. To build a robust hub, he urged India to establish its own Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
