Abandonment In Arbitration Proceedings: A Study Of Abandonment And The Application Of Order XXIII Rule 1 CPC In Arbitration
- IJLLR Journal
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Gagan N.R., Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore
ABSTRACT
There is no definition of abandonment contained in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 nor is there any provision regarding the consequences of a party abandoning arbitral proceedings. This lack of statutory provisions regarding abandonment has resulted in an entire body of judicial precedents that have increasingly recognized certain forms of behavior as implying abandonment of arbitral proceedings over time. The purpose of this paper is to determine if there can ever be legal abandonment of arbitral proceedings from conduct and whether the same would be consistent with the basic principles of arbitration law in India and whether it is the emergence of a distinct doctrine of procedural finality in India.
By means of a doctrinal analysis of the Supreme Court rulings in Dani Wooltex Corporation v. Sheil Properties Pvt. Ltd. (2024), HPCL Bio-Fuels Ltd. v. Shahaji Bhanudas Bhad (2024), and Rajiv Gaddh v. Subodh Parkash (2026), together with the decision in Nalin Vallabhbhai Patel v. Atharva Realtors (2026) by the Bombay High Court, this study charts the judicial evolution that has seen the application of Order XXIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 in the arbitral context on grounds of public policy. It highlights a dual problem with the thresholds laid down by the current jurisprudence, argues that the courts have failed to provide justification for the use of differing abandonment criteria depending on the stage of arbitral proceedings, and finds that although there may be a strong case to support the procedural finality doctrine, legislative clarification is required for consistency with arbitration fundamentals under the Act.
Keywords: Abandonment of Arbitral Proceedings, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, Implied Abandonment, Procedural Fairness, Public Policy.
