Arbitration essentially involves ouster of jurisdiction of civil courts by mutual consent of the parties in lieu of jurisdiction conferred upon a specific set of persons known as arbitrators to adjudicate the dispute. International Arbitral Standards require the states to keep their National Arbitral Legislation open-ended without limiting the scope of arbitrability of disputes, providing grounds only for setting aside of arbitral awards in violation of the Public Policy of the country. Thus, the interpretation of ‘Scope of arbitrability’ is left to the determination of the courts. The instant article explores the meaning of term ‘arbitrability of disputes’ and discusses the ‘Scope of arbitrability of disputes’ in Indian Perspective. The article critically analyses the case of Booz Allen and Hamilton Inc. v. SBI Home Finance Ltd., wherein the Supreme court for the first time evolved test of arbitrability of disputes and further enumerated an illustrative list of disputes, which are incapable of being decided by arbitration. The article then maps the evolution of tests of arbitrability by various courts based on the Judgement of the Supreme Court and critically analyses them.
Asian International Arbitration Journal