Dismissed¶8

Axis Bank (Formerly Known as Uti Bank Ltd.) v. Bhimappa Shyam Vasmani(Judgement Debtor/Resp. NO.1)

Bombay HC29 Jan 2026IA/5740/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Unilateral appointment of sole arbitrator; arbitral awards set aside; execution applications dismissed/disposed; Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airports Authority of India (2026 SCC Online SC 7) relied on; fresh arbitration permitted; limitation exclusion from invocation till order date; Bombay High Court OOCJ; Justice Abhay Ahuja; 5 May 2026; Serial Nos. 37, 39, 41, 45, 48, 49, 50 & 51.

What did the court decide?

Respective arbitral awards set aside; Commercial Execution Applications/Execution Applications and connected Interim Applications dismissed/disposed; parties permitted to initiate fresh arbitration with the period from invocation till today excluded for limitation. ¶8

Axis Bank (Formerly Known as Uti Bank Ltd.) vs Bhimappa Shyam Vasmani(Judgement Debtor/Resp. NO.1) — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶8

Issue for consideration

Whether, the appointment of the sole arbitrator in all these matters being unilateral (as covered by the Supreme Court decision in Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airports Authority of India), the respective arbitral awards ought to be set aside and the execution applications dismissed/disposed. +1 more

¶7

Court's answer

The respective arbitral awards stand set aside, the appointment of the sole arbitrator in all these matters having been unilateral, as submitted with reliance on the Supreme Court decision in Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airports Authority of India.

¶8

Ratio / Principle

The Commercial Execution Applications/Execution Applications and the connected Interim Applications, if any, stand dismissed/disposed accordingly.

¶8

Key takeaways

It is open to the parties to initiate fresh arbitration proceedings in accordance with law.ratio¶12
For limitation, the period from the invocation of the arbitration till today is to be excluded in initiating fresh arbitration proceedings.ratio¶13

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court, OOCJ (Abhay Ahuja, J.; 5 May 2026) — Serial Nos. 37, 39, 41, 45, 48, 49, 50 & 51. On counsel's submission that in all these matters the appointment of the sole arbitrator was unilateral, covered by the Supreme Court decision in Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airports Authority of India, 2026 SCC Online SC 7 (unilateral appointment void ab initio; ineligibility raisable at any stage, even in execution), the Court set aside the respective arbitral awards and dismissed/disposed the pending Commercial Execution Applications/Execution Applications and connected Interim Applications. Parties left free to initiate fresh arbitration in accordance with law, with the period from invocation of arbitration till the date of the order excluded for limitation.

Axis Bank (Formerly Known as Uti Bank Ltd.) v. Bhimappa Shyam Vasmani(Judgement Debtor/Resp. NO.1)

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Axis Bank (Formerly Known as Uti Bank Ltd.) v. Bhimappa Shyam Vasmani(Judgement Debtor/Resp. NO.1)

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

All orders in this case

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