Amended section 36 of the Arbitration Act does not apply to pre-amendment arbitral proceedings, pending section 34 challenge

The amended section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 does not apply to a stay application where the arbitral proceedings commenced before 23 October 2015, unless the parties agreed otherwise. Reading section 36 with section 26 of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015, the amendment regime was held inapplicable to pre-amendment arbitral proceedings. As a result, a request to stay operation of the award pending a section 34 challenge was not governed by the amended provision, and the stay application was unnecessary.

---

---

Issues: Whether the amended section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 applied to an application seeking stay of an arbitral award where the arbitral proceedings had commenced before the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 came into force.

Analysis: The application sought a stay of operation of the arbitral award pending disposal of a section 34 challenge. The amended section 36, introduced by the 2015 amendment regime, had to be read with section 26 of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015, which makes the amended Act inapplicable to arbitral proceedings commenced before the commencement of the amendment unless the parties agree otherwise. Since the arbitral proceedings had commenced before 23 October 2015, the amended section 36 did not govern the case.

Conclusion: The amended section 36 was not applicable, and the application for stay was unnecessary.

---