Section 11 & 29A: Impeding or expediting the Arbitration process?

  Through the present health catastrophe that the world knows as COVID-19, arbitration has been shown to adapt better than other dispute resolution methods. For one, it gives parties and arbitrators substantial autonomy and control over the process which enables the arbitration community to continue proceedings. Given this autonomy and flexible structure of proceedings while arbitrating disputes , these pandemic’s adverse effects can be minimized or mitigated. The 2019 Amendment Act stood as the latest testament to this, by marking India’s shift towards institutional arbitration. One of its main objectives was to make India an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction, something which the previous amendments have failed to achieve. In order to execute this, Sections 11 and 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act stood as two of the most well-known and ambitious provisions added by 2015 amendment. These provisions aimed to limit the scope of examination by the court, as such examinatio...