Gujarat High Court hosts two-day conference on arbitration

The Gujarat High Court in collaboration with the Gujarat State Judicial Academy recently convened a two-day ‘Conference on Arbitration Law’  in Ahmedabad.

Supreme Court judge Justice NV Anjaria was the Chief Guest of the conference held on September 20 and 21.

In the inaugural address, the top court judge highlighted the history behind institutional arbitration and traced its roots to Vedic times.

“As back as in 1976, in Roscoe Pound Conference, Dr. Frank Sander, Dean of Harvard Law School, floated the concept of Comprehensive Justice Center, which came to be known as multi-door courthouses. This multi door courthouse can be imagined for India, where the courts are temples of justice, namely that this temple has many rooms, many spaces, for different alternative dispute resolution systems, one for arbitration, one for conciliation, one for mediation, one for Lokadalat," Justice Anjaria said.

"It was as back as in the Vedic times of Yajnavalkya. Arbitration bodies such as Sreni, Puga and Kula were invented, known as Panchayats. The Kula was a council of family members to resolve the domestic disputes. Sreni was an assembly of merchants and artisans from same trade or guild. Puga was a village or town, assembly of people from various castes and professions to settle the disputes amongst the community members. It was like a system of Panchayat and this system of Panchayat was recognised as back as in 1934 by the Privy Council in Vyatya Sithanna, that is 1980 or 1934, Privy Council 105," he added.

Justice Anjaria also said that arbitration should not become a rendezvous for the elitist.

"It should be common man-friendly mechanism if it is to work as real alternative justice delivery system. I think this is the main challenge of the day when we deal with the arbitration laws," he said.

The event was attended by High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justices AY Kogje, AS Supehia, Bhargav D Karia and other High Court judges.

In the welcome address, Justice Agarwal said the conference marked an important milestone in advancing arbitration in the State of Gujarat.

"This event reinforces the commitment of the High Court of Gujarat to strengthen the system of dispute resolution outside the traditional courts by engaging with all the stakeholders through capacity-building programs and is designed for the District Judiciary and members of the legal fraternity, including lawyers practicing in District Courts, with idea to strengthen them so that disputes can be resolved effectively at the grassroots level," she said.

Chief Justice Agarwal added that majority of litigants in India first engage with the justice delivery system at the district level and that if arbitration, mediation, and hybrid models of dispute resolution are to succeed in the State and in the country, their strength must be felt not only in the Metropolitan centres, but also in every district and every taluka court.

The vote of thanks was devlivered by Justice Kogje.

Sessions

Session I on the first day was Chaired by the Chief Justice Agarwal. The panelists included Justice Kogje, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore, Senior Advocate Darius Khambhata, and Senior Advocate Gourab Banerji.

Session II on the first day was chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Hima Kohli, and the panel included Justice Girish Kulkarni of Bombay High Court, Justice AS Supehia of Gujarat High Court, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of Calcutta High Court, Senior Advocate Balbir Singh and Senior Advocate Ritin Rai.

Session III on the second day was Chaired by Delhi High Court judge Justice C Hari Shankar and the panelists included Justice Sangeeta K Vishen of Gujarat High Court, former Orissa High Court Chief Justice and Senor Advocate Dr. S Muralidhar, Senior Advocate Saurabh Soparkar, Senior Advocate Nakul Dewan and Advocate Anirudh Krishnan.

Session IV on Day 2 was Chaired by Justice Bhargav D Karia of the Gujarat High Court and the panel included former Bombay High Court Chief Justice Justice Ramesh Dhanuka, former Bombay High Court judge Justice Gautam Patel, Senior Advocate NL Rajah, and Senior Advocate Unmesh Shukla.

The conference ended with the ‘Valedictory Session: Way Forward’ by the Solicitor General of India (SG) Tushar Mehta.

In his address, SG Mehta said that there is no systematic study done as to how arbitration as a concept of dispute adjudication has succeeded in India. He added that the real problem faced by the arbitration community in the country is the question of integrity of the arbitrators.