Arbitration has steadily emerged as a preferred mechanism for dispute resolution in India, especially in the last two decades, with the judiciary and legislature striving to align the Indian arbitration regime with international best practices. The High Court of Gujarat, in collaboration with the Gujarat State Judicial Academy, had convened a two-day ‘Conference on Arbitration Law’ on 20th and 21st September 2025 at the Gujarat High Court Auditorium in Ahmedabad. The participants in the Auditorium were the Judges of the District Judiciary and the lawyers. The conference was live on YouTube. It was also virtually attended by the participant lawyers.
Bringing together eminent Judges and senior advocates practicing in the field of arbitration from across the country, the conference aimed to deepen engagement with arbitration jurisprudence, highlighted contemporary challenges and a way forward for the future.
The Inaugural Session: Chief Guest of the conference was Justice N. V. Anjaria, Judge, Supreme Court of India, who delivered the keynote address. Amongst the other dignitaries was Smt. Sunita Agarwal the Chief Justice, High Court of Gujarat along with Justice A.Y. Kogje, Justice A.S. Supehia, and Justice Bhargav D. Karia.
In her welcome address, Smt. Sunita Agarwal – the Chief Justice said that “This Conference marks 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 that the majority of litigants in India first engage with the justice delivery system at the district level and it is here, in the trial courts, that the justice system truly meets the citizens of the State. She also added that if arbitration, mediation, and hybrid models of dispute resolution are to succeed in the State and in our Country, their strength must be felt not only in the Metropolitan centres, but also in every district and every taluka Court.
Justice N. V. Anjaria, in his inaugural remarks, highlighted the concept of arbitration which has the roots in history. He said that “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. 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. From a passage that he quoted, he explained certain essential ingredients of the arbitration process like firstly, it must be an easy process, free from procedural wrangles, Secondly, it is a fair settlement of dispute, fair to both the sides, Thirdly, speedy and inexpensive, Fourthly, it is an honest settlement and fifthly, settlement of disputes both on legal and moral grounds. He said that the unique feature of arbitration is that parties choose their own judges, who would be the arbitrators where nobody would say that you are indulging in forum shopping. He also said that ordinarily, since it is a self-chosen system, the litigants or parties to the arbitration would stand satisfied, to a large extent, by the process and the outcome of the process, except sometimes for the reason of the fees of the arbitrator. He concluded that there are advantages of this system, this mechanism, when the judges or arbitrators are chosen by the parties themselves, there is no trust deficit and that one of the most important reasons which can be attributed as a good feature of the arbitration is that this mechanism ensures presence of control of the parties over the proceedings, which is absent in the traditional methods of dispute.
Vote of thanks was given by Justice A. Y. Kogje, Senior most Judge, High Court of Gujarat.
Session I on Day one was Chaired by the Chief Justice Smt. Sunita Agarwal. In her introductory remarks as the Chair Person, she explained the essence of arbitration: Party Autonomy and the role of Courts as facilitators not supervisors. Panelists included Justice A.Y. Kogje, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore, former Advocate General Darius Khambhata, and Senior Advocate Gourab Banerji who shared their vast experience with the august gathering.
Session II on Day one was Chaired by Justice Hima Kohli, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and the panel included Justice Girish Kulkarni (Bombay High Court), Justice A.S. Supehia (Gujarat High Court), Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya (Calcutta High Court), Senior Advocate Balbir Singh, and Senior Advocate Ritin Rai. Discussion was mainly on Referral powers of courts, Challenges to arbitrators, Kompetenz-Kompetenz and the Equality principle in arbitration.
Session III on Day 2 was Chaired by Justice C. Hari Shankar (Delhi High Court), focusing on interim measures, anti-suit injunctions, statutory arbitrations, termination of mandate and substitute arbitrator. Panelists included Justice Sangeeta K. Vishen (Gujarat High Court), 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, Judge, Gujarat High Court. The topics discussed were making of awards, costs & termination of arbitration proceedings, enforcement of awards, Jurisdiction of courts and limitation in arbitration. The panel included Justice Ramesh Dhanuka (Former CJ, Bombay High Court), Justice Gautam Patel (Former Judge, Bombay High Court), Senior Advocate N.L. Rajah, and Senior Advocate Unmesh Shukla.
The Conference ended with the ‘Valedictory Session: Way Forward’ by the Solicitor General of India, Mr. Tushar Mehta. In his brief address, he 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. He expressed his concern to the extent that ‘whether we are in a position to give that confidence to the litigant that you have a faster, effective mechanism and that you can trust in that mechanism?’ He said that mostly the arbitrations go either to Bombay or Delhi but we must have a robust Institutional arbitration centre which can be trusted so much so that other people not only from outside Gujarat but people outside the nation also comes the way people go to Singapore and Gujarat has that potential. Lastly he concluded that the very heart and soul of arbitration is less challenge and effective and quick adjudication.
