Au Small Finance Bank Ltd. v. Praful Tours and Travels Shekhar L Sawa and 3 Ors.
Arbitration – Execution of award – Unilateral appointment of sole arbitrator
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court, Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction - Execution Application No. 82 of 2021 with Notice No. 369 of 2025 - AU Small Finance Bank Ltd. v. Praful Tours and Travels Shekhar L Sawa and 3 Ors - decided 11 March 2026 by Rajesh S. Patil, J. - none appeared for the applicant. Execution of an arbitral award refused: the award passed by a unilaterally appointed sole arbitrator was declared non-est in law, non-executable and void-ab-initio even at the stage of execution, applying the Supreme Court's decision in Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airport Authority of India (Civil Appeal No. 37-38 of 2026, decided 5 January 2026) and the Court's earlier view in L & T Finance Ltd. v. Sangeeta Bhansali & Anr. (Commercial Execution Application (L) No. 5277 of 2022). Parties permitted to initiate fresh arbitration; limitation excluded from invocation till the date of the order. Keywords: unilateral appointment of arbitrator; void-ab-initio; non-est; non-executable; execution of arbitral award; fresh arbitration; limitation exclusion.