'Copy-paste' award by Indian arbitrators set aside in Singapore

THE SICC FOUND THAT OF 157 PARAGRAPHS IN THE AWARD WERE COPIED FROM A RULING SET ASIDE BY THE SINGAPORE SUPREME COURT

- Ayesha Arvind

BENGALURU: The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) on May 5 set aside an arbitral award worth ₹80.29 crore after finding that a tribunal of retired Indian judges delivered its decision with a "closed mind", copying large sections from previous awards without independent analysis.

The ruling marks a blow to the credibility of international arbitration panels comprising retired Indian judges following the Court of Appeal of the Singapore Supreme Court's April decision to uphold the annulment of an award chaired by former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on similar grounds.

In a scathing 85-page judgment earlier this month, SICC judge Roger Giles ruled that the tribunal majority—identified only as "judge A" and "judge C"—had "extensively reproduced reasoning from earlier related awards rather than conducting fresh analysis".