Justice NV Anjaria On Reviving 'Spirit Of Arbitration': Judicial Intervention Should Be Minimal

Speaking at the opening ceremony of GHAC Arbitration Week 2026, organised by the Gujarat High Court Arbitration Centre (Domestic & International) in collaboration with the High Court of Gujarat, Supreme Court Justice NV Anjaria has said that the judicial intervention should be minimal in the process of arbitration.

Justice Anjaria said the spirit of arbitration is to be revived and the arbitration is to be given its revitalization, for which five areas to be addressed. "The judicial intervention should be minimal. Recently the Supreme Court has delivered more than three four judgments emphasizing that the intervention of the courts in the arbitration process and the decision making of the arbitrator should be least and only on the compelling circumstances," he remarked.

Shedding light on other four areas, the supreme court judge has said:

1. Firstly, the arbitration should be cost effective. It should not be expensive either moneywise, time wise or procedure- wise.
2. Secondly, it should remain party-centric process and should not be allowed to be degenerated in any manner as arbitrator centric.
3. Thirdly, the arbiters cannot be in the elitist club of rich litigants. It must remain in its nature and character as common men's forum easily accessible readily available as a dispute resolution method.
4. Fourthly, one must search for the essence of arbitration. The essence of arbitration I would say lies in section 30 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. It deals with the settlement and provides for encouraging the settlement of disputes by use of mediation conciliation or other such procedures during the process of arbitration saying that such process of mediation or conciliation is not incompatible with the arbitration agreement. The tools of conciliation and mediation if properly used as a part of the arbitration process it may yield miraculous results.

Justice Anjaria further highlighted how the mechanism of arbitration has grown manifold and multifold and has assumed the global dimensions to become an institution itself in itself. But then, the judge added, there is no gain saying and it is a matter of serious concern that simultaneously with the growth of arbitration as a justice delivery system the drawbacks, pitfalls and certain inherent ills have mushroomed tainting the very process of arbitration.

"The present day arbitration in my view has misdirected itself from the purpose for which it was conceived and supposed to be implemented. Arbitration has grown up in age but the stakeholders have not grown up in the wisdom and in the spirit of arbitration," the judge has said.

Justice Vipul M Pancholi and Justice KV Vishwanathan also attended the opening ceremony.  While Justice Pancholi stressed on the role court's play in the field of arbitration and has called it to be indispensable, at the same time clarifying that judicial supervision should be disciplined, Justice Vishwanathan underscored the need to strike a careful balance between party autonomy in arbitration and the judiciary’s responsibility to ensure fairness, impartiality and adherence to the rule of law.

The Gujarat High Court Arbitration Centre (Domestic & International) (GHAC), in collaboration with the Gujarat High Court, has organised the GHAC Arbitration Week 2026, a three-day programme dedicated to strengthening Gujarat’s institutional arbitration ecosystem and promoting the State as a leading destination for efficient, credible and institutionally driven dispute resolution. The three-day programme is being held from 4 September to 6 September 2026 at the prestigious GIFT City Club, Gandhinagar, under the overarching theme “Building Gujarat’s Institutional Arbitration Ecosystem”.