Raise disputes over contract before single tribunal: High Court

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ruled that all disputes over a contract, as far as possible, must be raised together before a single tribunal and multiple tribunals must be shunned.

“All disputes that are in existence when the arbitration clause is invoked, ought to be raised and referred at one go,” Judge Pratibha M. Singh said. Any subsequent disputes must be referred to the same tribunal if it was still in existence.

Litigants must make a full disclosure on all pending arbitrations when they raise a subsequent dispute and seek to arbitrate the issue before another tribunal or a court, she ruled.


At the time of filing of petitions under Section 11 or 34 or any other provision of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, a specific disclosure must be made regarding the number of references, tribunals or court proceedings, pending or adjudicated, in respect of the same contract, and if so, the stage of the proceedings.

If multiple challenges are pending, parties ought to bring them to the notice of the court so that all of them can be adjudicated comprehensively at one go.