Aditya Birla Finance Limited v. Mohammad Belal
Case brief
What is this about?
Unilateral appointment of sole arbitrator; void ab initio; ineligibility raisable at any stage including execution; Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airports Authority of India, 2026 SCC Online SC 7 (applied); Commercial Execution Applications dismissed in batch (Sr. Nos. 902-985, 987-1117, 1120-1121, 1124-1134, 1138-1151, 1154-1169); arbitral awards set aside; interim applications and chamber summons dismissed/disposed; fresh arbitration permitted; limitation exclusion from invocation till date; liberty to apply on express written waiver under proviso to Section 12(5), Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; Prothonotary & Senior Master finding; Bombay High Court OOCJ; Abhay Ahuja, J.
What did the court decide?
No substantive relief to the executing applicants: the Commercial Execution Applications stand dismissed and the respective arbitral awards stand set aside. Directions instead: (i) parties may initiate fresh arbitration proceedings in accordance with law; (ii) the period from invocation of the arbitration till today is excluded for limitation in the fresh proceedings; (iii) liberty to apply where an express agreement in writing waives the Section 12(5) ineligibility/right to object.