The Legal Architecture Of Infrastructure Disputes In India: Arbitration, Contracts, And Statutory Reforms

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Aishwarya Singh, LL.B. (Hons.), Amity University Noida

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the complex legal framework governing the adjudication of delay and cost-overrun claims within the Indian infrastructure sector. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the statutory backbone anchored by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, which equips arbitral tribunals with the procedural flexibility and expert integration necessary to resolve highly technical construction disputes within strict statutory timelines. The study further explores the substantive evaluation of financial remedies, unliquidated damages, and liquidated damages under Sections 55, 73, and 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Additionally, it highlights the critical impact of rigorous contractual notice requirements, such as those found in FIDIC standard forms, and analyses the jurisprudential tension between enforcing absolute time bars and applying India's equitable 'Prevention Principle'. The paper also assesses the transformative effects of the Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018, which statutorily shields public utility projects from judicial injunctions and introduces the remedy of substituted performance. By comparing Indian practices with global common law standards in jurisdictions like the UK and Singapore, this research illustrates India's gradual transition from a history of equitable leniency toward a modern regime of strict commercial certainty and procedural rigor in infrastructure dispute resolution.

Keywords: Infrastructure Arbitration, Delay and Cost Overruns, Indian Contract Act, Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, Time Bars

454. THE LEGAL ARCHITECTURE OF INFRASTRUCTURE DISPUTES IN INDIA- ARBITRATION, CONTRACTS, A

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