 bill no 16 of 2021 the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) bill, 2021 a billfurther to amend the arbitration and conciliation act, 1996be it enacted by parliament in the seventy-second year of the republic of india as follows––1 (1) this act may be called the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) act, 2021short title and commencement(2) save as otherwise provided in this act, it shall be deemed to have come into force on the 4th day of november, 20202 in the arbitration and conciliation act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act), in section 36, in sub-section (3), after the proviso, the following shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 23rd day of october, 2015, namely:––(a) the arbitration agreement or contract which is the basis of the award; or (b) the making of the award,was induced or effected by fraud or corruption, it shall stay the award unconditionally pending disposal of the challenge under section 34 to the award53 of 2016explanation––for the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that the above proviso shall apply to all court cases arising out of or in relation to arbitral proceedings, irrespective of whether the arbitral or court proceedings were commenced prior to or after the commencement of the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) act, 2015"3 for section 43j of the principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:––substitution of new section for section 43j10"43j the qualifications, experience and norms for accreditation of arbitrators shall be such as may be specified by the regulations"norms for accreditation of arbitrators4 the eighth schedule to the principal act shall be omittedomission of eighth schedulerepeal and savingsord 14 of 20205 (1) the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) ordinance, 2020 is hereby repealed15(2) notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under this act statement of objects and reasonsthe arbitration and conciliation act, 1996 (the act) was enacted with a view to consolidate and amend the law relating to domestic arbitration, international commercial arbitration, enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and the law relating to conciliation2 the act was amended by the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) act, 2015(2015 act), inter alia, to make arbitration process user friendly, cost effective and ensure speedy disposal and neutrality of arbitrators3 subsequently, to address the practical difficulties arising in implementing the amendments carried out through 2015 act, and to promote institutional arbitration in the country, the act was again amended by the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) act, 20194 in order to address the issue of corrupt practices in securing contracts or arbitral awards, a need was felt to ensure that all the stakeholder parties get an opportunity to seek unconditional stay of enforcement of arbitral awards, where the underlying arbitration agreement or contract or making of the arbitral award is induced by fraud or corruption also to promote india as a hub of international commercial arbitration by attracting eminent arbitrators to the country, it was also felt necessary to omit the eighth schedule of the act5 in the light of above circumstances, it has become necessary further to amend the arbitration and conciliation act, 1996  however, as parliament was not in session and immediate steps were required to make further amendments in the act, the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) ordinance, 2020 (ord 14 of 2020) was promulgated by the president on 4th november, 2020 under clause (1) of article 123 of the constitution6 the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) bill, 2021which seeks to replace the aforesaid ordinance, inter alia, provides for the following, namely:—(i) to grant unconditional stay of enforcement of arbitral awards, where the underlying arbitration agreement, contracts or arbitral award is induced by fraud or corruption;(ii) to omit eighth schedule of the act which laid down the qualifications, experience and norms for accreditation of arbitrators; and(iii) to specify by regulations the qualifications, experience and norms for accreditation of arbitrators and the said amendment is consequential in nature 7 the bill seeks to replace the aforesaid ordinancenew delhi;ravi shankar prasadthe 29th january, 2021 memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 3 of the bill proposes to substitute section 43j in the arbitration and conciliation act, 19962 the proposed section 43j provides that the arbitration council of india may by regulations specify the qualifications, experience and norms for accreditation of arbitrators3 the matters in respect of which the regulations may be made are matters of procedure and administrative details and it is not practical to provide for them in the bill itself  the delegation of legislative power is therefore, of a normal character annexure extracts from the arbitration and conciliation act, 1996 (26 of 1996)     chapter viii finality and enforcement of arbitral awards| 35              ||------------------|| finality of      || arbitral awards |enforcement5 of 190836 (1) where the time for making an application to set aside the arbitral award under section 34 has expired, then, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), such award shall be enforced in accordance with the provisions of the code of civil procedure, 1908, in the same manner as if it were a decree of the court (2) where an application to set aside the arbitral award has been filed in the court under section 34, the filing of such an application shall not by itself render that award unenforceable, unless the court grants an order of stay of the operation of the said arbitral award in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (3), on a separate application made for that purpose (3) upon filing of an application under sub-section (2) for stay of the operation of the arbitral award, the court may, subject to such conditions as it may deem fit, grant stay of the operation of such award for reasons to be recorded in writing: provided that the court shall, while considering the application for grant of stay in the case of an arbitral award for payment of money, have due regard to the provisions for grant of stay of a money decree under the provisions of the code of civil procedure, 19085 of 1908|     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|-----|norms for accreditation43j the qualifications, experience and norms for accreditation of arbitrators shall be such as specified in the eighth schedule:provided that the central government may, after consultation with the council, by notification in the official gazette, amend the eighth schedule and thereupon, the eighth schedule shall be deemed to have been amended accordingly      the eighth schedule qualifications and experience of arbitratora person shall not be qualified to be an arbitrator unless he—25 of 1961(i) is an advocate within the meaning of the advocates act, 1961 having tenyears of practice experience as an advocate; or38 of 1949(ii) is a chartered accountant within the meaning of the chartered accountantsact, 1949 having ten years of practice experience as a chartered accountant; or23 of 1959(iii) is a cost accountant within the meaning of the cost and works accountants act, 1959 having ten years of practice experience as a cost accountant; or56 of 1980(iv) is a company secretary within the meaning of the company secretaries act, 1980 having ten years of practice experience as a company secretary; or(v) has been an officer of the indian legal service; or (vi) has been an officer with law degree having ten years of experience in the legal matters in the government, autonomous body, public sector undertaking or at a senior level managerial position in private sector; or(vii) has been an officer with engineering degree having ten years of experience as an engineer in the government, autonomous body, public sector undertaking or at a senior level managerial position in private sector or self-employed; or(viii) has been an officer having senior level experience of administration in the central government or state government or having experience of senior level management of a public sector undertaking or a government company or a private company of repute; or(ix) is a person, in any other case, having educational qualification at degree level with ten years of experience in scientific or technical stream in the fields of telecom, information technology, intellectual property rights or other specialised areas in the government, autonomous body, public sector undertaking or a senior level managerial position in a private sector, as the case may be general norms applicable to arbitrator(i) the arbitrator shall be a person of general reputation of fairness, integrity and capable to apply objectivity in arriving at settlement of disputes;(ii) the arbitrator must be impartial and neutral and avoid entering into any financial business or other relationship that is likely to affect impartiality or might reasonably create an appearance of partiality or bias amongst the parties;(iii) the arbitrator should not involve in any legal proceeding and avoid any potential conflict connected with any dispute to be arbitrated by him;(iv) the arbitrator should not have been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude or economic offence;(v) the arbitrator shall be conversant with the constitution of india, principles of natural justice, equity, common and customary laws, commercial laws, labour laws, law of torts, making and enforcing the arbitral awards;(vi) the arbitrator should possess robust understanding of the domestic and international legal system on arbitration and international best practices in regard thereto;(vii) the arbitrator should be able to understand key elements of contractual obligations in civil and commercial disputes and be able to apply legal principles to a situation under dispute and also to apply judicial decisions on a given matter relating to arbitration; and(viii) the arbitrator should be capable of suggesting, recommending or writing a reasoned and enforceable arbitral award in any dispute which comes before him for adjudication lok sabha———— a billfurther to amend the arbitration and conciliation act, 1996————(shri ravi shankar prasad, minister of law and justice)mgipmrnd—1264ls(s3)—01-02-2021