Arbitration Services

The seat of arbitration determines which country's courts have supervisory jurisdiction over the arbitration and which procedural law applies; the venue is simply where hearings are physically held. Under the 'seat as centre of gravity' principle the Supreme Court has applied since Bharat Aluminium Co. v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services (BALCO), an arbitration clause should always specify the seat explicitly rather than leaving it to be inferred from the venue.

Yes. In PASL Wind Solutions Pvt. Ltd. v. GE Power Conversion India Pvt. Ltd. (2021), the Supreme Court held that party autonomy under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 allows even two Indian companies to choose a foreign seat, and an award from that arbitration is enforced in India as a foreign award under Part II of the Act.

Before the tribunal is constituted, a party can approach a court directly under Section 9. Once the tribunal is constituted, Section 17 gives it the same power to grant interim measures, and — since the 2015 amendment — courts generally decline to entertain a Section 9 application if the tribunal can grant equally efficacious relief. A tribunal's Section 17 order is enforceable in the same manner as a court order.

For a domestic arbitration, Section 29A requires the tribunal to render its award within 12 months of the completion of pleadings, extendable by up to 6 months with the parties' consent; any extension beyond that requires a court application and is granted only on sufficient cause. International commercial arbitration seated in India, and arbitrations conducted under institutional rules, follow their own procedural timelines.

No. A foreign award — one made in a country notified by the Indian government as a reciprocating territory under the New York Convention — must be brought before an Indian court under Part II (Sections 44-52) of the Act. The court examines only the narrow grounds for refusal listed in Section 48 (such as incapacity, an invalid arbitration agreement, improper notice, or a conflict with India's public policy); once satisfied, the award is deemed a decree of that court.

No. Since the 2015 amendment, merely filing a Section 34 application to set aside a domestic award does not by itself stay enforcement under Section 36 — the party challenging the award must separately apply for, and be granted, a stay, which courts frequently condition on depositing part or all of the awarded amount.

No — AU Corporate is not a law firm and does not appear as counsel of record. We work alongside your appointed legal counsel, whether Indian or international, providing the financial claim preparation, quantification and expert witness support described on this page.

Most foreign companies contracting with Indian counterparties now specify institutional arbitration — under bodies such as the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA), the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA), or an international institution such as the SIAC — for the procedural certainty and administrative support institutional rules provide over ad hoc arbitration. MCIA's updated 2025 Arbitration Rules, for example, added joinder of non-parties, expedited early dismissal and emergency arbitrator procedures broadly in line with major global institutions.