Aditya Birla Capital Limited v. Vaishnav Enterprises
Arbitration – Unilateral appointment of sole arbitrator
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court (Abhay Ahuja, J., 29 April 2026) in five consolidated matters (Interim Applications Nos. 3694, 6064, 6848, 6851 and 6854 of 2025 in Execution Applications Nos. 2411, 1446, 2410, 2419 and 2413 of 2025; applicant Aditya Birla Capital Limited) set aside the respective arbitral awards on the ground that the sole arbitrator had been unilaterally appointed, relying on Bhadra International (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Airports Authority of India, 2026 SCC Online SC 7. The execution applications and connected interim applications were dismissed/disposed; the parties may initiate fresh arbitration, with the period from invocation of arbitration till the date of the order excluded for limitation. Keywords: unilateral appointment of arbitrator; void ab initio; arbitral award set aside; execution application; fresh arbitration; limitation exclusion; Section 11-type challenge raised at execution stage.