Top Highlights

• In 2020, the Supreme Court, in the case Bhaskar Raju and Brothers and Anr V. s Dharmaratnakara Rai Bahadur Arcot Narainswamy Mudaliar Chattram & Other Charities and Ors had observed that an arbitration clause in an agreement which is required to be duly stamped, if not sufficiently stamped, cannot be acted upon by the Court.
• The Court overruled the judgment rendered by a 5-judge bench in April this year in M/s. N.N. Global Mercantile Pvt. Ltd. v. M/s. Indo Unique Flame Ltd. And Ors which had by a 3:2 majority held that unstamped arbitration agreements are not enforceable.
• a. Agreements which are not stamped or inadequately stamped are not void ab initio or unenforceable, they are inadmissible in evidence. b. Non-stamping or inadequate stamping is a curable defect. c. An objection as to stamping does not fall for determination under Sections 8 or 11 of the Arbitration Act. The concerned court must examine if an arb...
• In NN Global, a Bench comprising Justice K.M. Joseph, Justice Ajay Rastogi, Justice Aniruddha Bose, Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice C.T. Ravikumar had answered the reference on the issue by a 3:2 majority. The majority had decided that an instrument which is not stamped cannot be said to be a contract enforceable in law within the meaning of S. ...
• The petitioners argued that existence of an arbitration agreement and validity of the arbitration agreement were two different concepts

Domain