Law Ministry on Amendments to the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996

The previous post in this blog noted that a consultation paper would be released today by the Ministry of Law and Justice on amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A PIB (Press Information Bureau) press release indicated that the amendments would be on the following areas:

1. Section 2 (2) – Scope of application of Part I of the Act
2. Section 11-  Appointment of Arbitrators
3. Section 12- Disclosure by Arbitrator regarding any  interest in the matter
4. Section 28 (3)- Taking into account terms of the agreement and trade usage
5. Section 31 (7) –Rate of interest
6. Section 34- providing meaning of “public policy of India” and for harmonising  it with Sections 13 and 16
7. Section 36- Enforcement of arbitral award
8. Insertion of provisions for implied arbitration agreement in commercial contract of high consideration value. 

We'll post the consultation paper as soon as it is released.