India, Nov. 10 -- At the latest edition of the Delhi Arbitration Weekend (DAW), Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal remarked that "it is time to revisit Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996". The observation could not be more timely. If India is serious about its ambition of becoming a global arbitration hub, the autonomy of arbitral proceedings must be reinforced and judicial interference curtailed.

The institutional framework already exists. The Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA), and the GIFT City International Arbitration Centre have been established to provide modern facilities and align Indian arbitration with international standards. Yet India ...