27 December 2021, Monday

3 years ago

Disputes under three contracts cannot be consolidated without parties’ agreement, though the same tribunal could decide. An order under Section 16 that decides an issue finally at the interlocutory stage can be challenged in set-aside proceedings: Delhi H

07 December 2021 | Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development v. AOM Advertising Pvt. Ltd. | OMP (Comm.) 291 of 2021 | C Hari Shankar J | Delhi High Court | 2021 SCC OnLine Del 5300

Following Supreme Court's Duro Felguera (2017) 9 SCC 729, the Delhi High Court has said that, in the absence of any agreement by the parties, disputes arising under three agreements had to be arbitrated separately though they could be decided by one arbitral tribunal.

Accordingly, the court allowed an application under Section 34 ACA and set aside the tribunal's order rejecting a challenge made under Section 16 ACA to the consolidation.

Following Supreme Court's India Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Ltd. (IFFCO) (2018) 2 SCC 534, the court also rejected an objection that the set-aside application was not maintainable. It noted that the arbitral tribunal's order was final on the issue of consolidation of proceedings and, therefore, was an interim award amenable to challenge under Section 34 ACA.

Read the decision here.

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