Manappuram Finance Ltd. v. Mehrunnisa Tours and Travels
Case brief
What is this about?
Unilateral appointment of sole arbitrator; arbitral awards set aside; Commercial Execution Applications / Execution Applications dismissed / disposed; connected Interim Applications and Chamber Summons disposed; reliance on Supreme Court decision Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. and Others vs. Airports Authority of India, 2026 SCC Online SC 7 (void ab initio; ineligibility raisable even in execution); Prothonotary & Senior Master office finding; Section 12(5) proviso Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 waiver liberty; fresh arbitration permitted; limitation period from invocation excluded; High Court of Bombay, OOCJ; Abhay Ahuja, J.; batch Serial Nos. 901-910, 912-1022, 1024-1144, 1008-1022, 1024-1144, 1151-1158.
What did the court decide?
No relief to the executing parties: the respective arbitral awards stand set aside and the Commercial Execution Applications / Execution Applications, connected Interim Applications and Chamber Summons stand dismissed / disposed. Granted instead: parties may initiate fresh arbitration in accordance with law; the period from invocation of arbitration till the date of this order is excluded for limitation; and liberty to apply where an express agreement in writing under the proviso to Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 waived the sole arbitrator's ineligibility or the right to object.