Axis Bank Limited v. Bharat Kumar Shankarlal Mali/Jay Ambey Store
Case brief
What is this about?
Unilateral appointment of sole arbitrator; arbitral award declared non-est in law, non-executable and void-ab-initio even at execution stage; Axis Bank Ltd. execution application and notice dismissed; reliance on Supreme Court judgment in Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. and others v. Airport Authority of India, Civil Appeal Nos. 37-38 of 2026 (decided 05.01.2026) and Bombay High Court view in L & T Finance Ltd. v. Sangeeta Bhansali & Anr. (Comm. Ex.A.(L) No. 5277 of 2022); fresh arbitration permitted; limitation period from invocation of arbitration excluded; Bombay High Court, OO CJ, Rajesh S. Patil, J., 08.04.2026.
What did the court decide?
Execution Application No. 2048 of 2022 and the Notice stand dismissed; the arbitral award passed by the sole arbitrator is declared non-est in law, non-executable and void-ab-initio; interim applications, if any, stand disposed of; parties may initiate fresh arbitration, with the period from invocation of arbitration till today excluded for limitation.