Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. v. Mohan Umesh Shettigar and Anr.
Case brief
What is this about?
Unilateral appointment of sole arbitrator; arbitral award void-ab-initio; award non-est and non-executable at execution stage; Order XXI Rule 22 CPC notice; execution application dismissed; fresh arbitration permitted; limitation exclusion from invocation till date of order; Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited; AU Small Finance Bank Ltd.; Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airport Authority of India (Supreme Court, 05-01-2026, Civil Appeal No. 37-38 of 2026); L & T Finance Ltd. v. Sangeeta Bhansali & Anr. (Commercial Execution Application (L) No. 5277 of 2022); Bombay High Court OOCJ; Rajesh S. Patil J.; 2026.
What did the court decide?
All four Execution Applications dismissed; the arbitral awards passed by the unilaterally appointed sole arbitrators declared non-est in law, non-executable and void-ab-initio; the Notices and any Interim Applications disposed of; parties permitted to initiate fresh arbitration, with the period from invocation of arbitration till the date of the order excluded for limitation.