Au Small Finance Bank Ltd. v. Shivanshi Tours and Travels and Anr.

What is this about?

Bombay High Court (Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction), Notice No. 753 of 2025 in Execution Application No. 1420 of 2022, AU Small Finance Bank Ltd. v. Shivanshi Tours and Travels & Anr., decided 24 February 2026 by Rajesh S. Patil J. Notice filed 2025 under Order XXI, Rule 22 CPC; no counsel appeared for the applicant. Proceedings disclosed unilateral appointment of the sole arbitrator. Relying on the Supreme Court judgment of 5 January 2026 in Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. and others v. Airport Authority of India (Civil Appeal No. 37-38 of 2026) — holding that even at the stage of execution an arbitral award can be set aside as void-ab-initio where the arbitrator's appointment was unilateral — and on the judge's own prior view in L & T Finance Ltd. v. Sangeeta Bhansali & Anr. (Commercial Execution Application (L) No. 5277 of 2022), the Court declared the underlying arbitral award non-est in law, non-executable and void-ab-initio, dismissed the Execution Application, disposed of the Notice and interim applications, allowed fresh arbitration proceedings, and excluded the period from invocation of arbitration till the judgment date for limitation. Keywords: unilateral appointment; void ab initio; non-est award; execution stage; Order XXI Rule 22 CPC; fresh arbitration; limitation exclusion.