Constitution and Appointment of the Arbitral Tribunal
Number of Arbitrators
The arbitral tribunal shall consist of a sole arbitrator, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. The parties are free to decide on any odd number of arbitrators. The purpose is to avoid the possibility a tie in the award making in the event of divided opinion among the arbitrators.
Appointment of Arbitrators
The parties are free to choose any procedure for appointment of arbitrator or arbitrators. Unless otherwise agreed between the parties, a person of any nationality can be an arbitrator.
Sole Arbitrator
In the absence of any agreed procedure for appointment of the arbitrator, if the parties fail to agree on the name of the sole arbitrator within 30 days of being requested by the other party, any of the parties can apply to the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court or his designate, if any, for making the appointment.
Where even under an agreed appointment procedure any party or parties or authorized institution or person fail to act as stipulated therein, or to reach an agreement expected of them under that procedure, any party can apply to the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court or his designate, if any, for making the appointment.
For international commercial arbitrations with any foreign party, the Chief Justice of India or his designated institution or person shall be the appointing authority on failure of the machinery provisions, who may appoint arbitrator of any nationality other than those of the parties.
