Supreme Court of Justice
Date: 10-12-2015
Case Nr. 3486/12.7TBLRA.C1.S1
LINK DGSI
Headline:
Arbitrators may dispense with the requirement of taking personal testimony from both parties.
Summary:
- The arbitrator, as a well-informed and impartial judge, has to decide the question that the parties ask of him by relying on the best interpretation of the law and, in this context, he will have to rely on the law of civil procedure that applies to the central question of the dispute (thema decidendum).
- Following from the provisions in no. 2 of Art. 552 and in paragraph 3 of Art. 553, both of the NCPC (2013), the arbitrator can dispense with the process of taking personal testimony from the parties if the circumstances do not require such an exercise.
- The maxim of the equality of the parties in the process is assured in such a scenario; however this would not be the case where the arbitrator had prevented one party from giving his personal testimony and had allowed another party to do so in the same legal and factual circumstances.
This case summary was kindly prepared by Sameer Thakur (sameerthakur@live.in, NALSAR University of Law), Rishabh Raheja, (rishabharaheja@gmail.com, NALSAR University of Law), and Abhishek Babbar (abhishekbabbar1996@gmail.com).