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Section 5: Extent of judicial intervention

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1996
Section 4 All 87 Sections Schedules (4th, 5th, 7th) Section 6

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 5

Minimal judicial intervention represents the cardinal statutory policy of Indian arbitration law, strictly circumscribing the supervisory and appellate jurisdiction of civil courts under Section 5.

  • Statutory Powers & Jurisdiction: Section 5 contains a categorical non-obstante clause providing that notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, in matters governed by Part I, no judicial authority shall intervene except where so provided in Part I.
  • Core Legal Standard: This provision circumscribes judicial intervention to only those specific statutory gateways explicitly recognized under the Act (such as Sections 8, 9, 11, 14, 27, 34, and 37).
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Bhaven Construction v. Executive Engineer, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd. (2022) 1 SCC 75: The Supreme Court held that High Courts should not exercise their extraordinary writ jurisdiction under Articles 226 or 227 of the Constitution to interfere with arbitral orders, as Section 5 embodies a non-obstante legislative mandate against judicial interference.
  • Deep Industries Ltd. v. ONGC (2020) 15 SCC 706: Reaffirmed that the non-obstante mandate of Section 5 must be respected; supervisory writ jurisdiction cannot be used as an appeal in disguise to disrupt ongoing arbitration proceedings.
Legal Commentary:

Operating as the statutory guardian of arbitral autonomy, Section 5 prevents litigating parties from frustrating proceedings through collateral civil suits or interlocutory writ petitions, preserving arbitration as an efficient, party-autonomous dispute resolution mechanism.

Section 4 All 87 Sections Schedules (4th, 5th, 7th) Section 6