Retired judges have kept India’s arbitral system in a “tight-fist grip”, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar remarked on Saturday, adding that the arbitral process in the country requires to be made “spinally strong” by engaging other qualified minds too.

Echoing the statement of Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud expressed earlier this year that the system resembles an “old boys’ club”, Dhankhar said that the time has come when people need to introspect and move forward by bringing about necessary changes, including, if required, by a legislation.

“Nowhere on the planet, in no other country, in no other system there is such a tight-fist grip on the arbitral system by retired judges. In our country, this is at large,” said the V-P, addressing the inaugural session of the 6th ICC India Arbitration Day, in New Delhi.

Dhankhar applauded the “bold” remarks of justice Chandrachud — a person, he said, is changing the landscape of the judiciary in the country — on the arbitral system in India.

“Justice Chandrachud had said retired judges dominate the field. He goes on to add, and I salute him for this, he said while other qualified candidates are overlooked, he implied that this reflects an ‘old boys’ club’ mentality within the arbitration space. He elaborated on this stating that the retired judges dominate arbitral appointments and, in the process, several promising candidates are overlooked.” he added.

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India is known for its human resources, said the V-P, adding: “In every domain, in every walk of life, we have people who can take a look at it. But they are not built up to adjudicate an arbitrary process. Time has come when we need to introspect, move forward by bringing about necessary changes, including if required by legislation. I cannot but uphold the bold statement, the timely statement, the statement that will go a long way in making the arbitral process in this country spinally strong, that statement by the Chief Justice of India.”

Earlier this year, justice Chandrachud lamented the lack of diversity in appointing arbitrators. “If the Indian legal system has to move away from the tag of being an Old Boys’ Club, the arbitration space can add heft to the mission to provide equal opportunity — to men, women and them,” he had said in his address in February at an event organised by the Delhi International Arbitration Centre.

Kunal Vajani, joint managing partner at Fox & Mandal and a Court Member (India) of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, thanked the V-P for delivering the inaugural address of the 6th ICC India Arbitration Day. Vajani also underscored the importance of institutional arbitration, which he said, is increasingly becoming the norm for commercial dispute resolution, particularly for high-value disputes involving international parties, in most advanced jurisdictions.

In his address, Dhankhar also said that institutional arbitration is better than ad-hoc mechanisms because it provides a sound system for arriving at conclusions, Dhankhar added that there is a need to evolve a mechanism where the arbitral process does not suffer from judicial interventions.

“Judicial interventions in this country and elsewhere have reduced arbitration just as a tier in the normal litigation process. If you analyse an arbitrary decision-making process, it starts with rendering of an award and by the time you reach the making of the award there is enough scope for judicial interventions…So, we have to evolve a mechanism where the arbitration process does not suffer judicial interventions,” he said.

Dhankhar said that while approaching court for relief is a remedy prescribed in law, amicable dispute resolution in arbitration proceedings could mean lesser parties approaching courts for intervention.

“I conclude by saying that nothing can be more amusing than the highest court of the land …will reflect in more than three dozen pages, go to each and every detail of the arbitral award and indicate that the courts must not probe in detail the arbitral award,” he urged.