https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=310734 Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, read with the Fifth and Seventh Schedules, distinguishes between ineligibility and circumstances creating doubts about independence or impartiality. Prior service as a government or railway officer does not by itself disqualify a retired officer from acting as an arbitrator, but the appointing process must still preserve meaningful neutrality. A panel of only three names was held too narrow, and a clause permitting the railway to appoint its arbitrator from outside the disclosed panel was considered objectionable because the contractor would not know the appointee's background. The process was required to be revised with a longer disclosed panel of at least 30 names. en-us Wed, 19 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 09 Nov 2023 20:50:48 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=310734 Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, read with the Fifth and Seventh Schedules, distinguishes between ineligibility and circumstances creating doubts about independence or impartiality. Prior service as a government or railway officer does not by itself disqualify a retired officer from acting as an arbitrator, but the appointing process must still preserve meaningful neutrality. A panel of only three names was held too narrow, and a clause permitting the railway to appoint its arbitrator from outside the disclosed panel was considered objectionable because the contractor would not know the appointee's background. The process was required to be revised with a longer disclosed panel of at least 30 names. Case-Laws Indian Laws Wed, 19 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=310734