The Planning Commission is working on what the new Dispute Resolution Bill should contain. Based on a briefing of Infrastructure Today’s round table discussion on Dispute Resolution in Infrastructure (see lead story), Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, in an interview with Shashidhar Nanjundaiah, responded as follows.
Personally, from what I know, dispute resolution is a huge problem with all government contract concessionaire arrangements, and the existing system is not working.
Disputes between two parties that have ventured into contractual arrangements are not unusual but private parties entering into such contracts feel that the government side typically adopts a completely inflexible approach which is not conducive to satisfactory resolution. The government on the other hand feels that the private sector is constantly trying to escape its obligations.
Establishment of a quasi judicial tribunal has the advantage that governments which are often unwilling to accept an arbitrator’s decision which goes against the government will be more inclined to accept the decision of a quasi judicial tribunal.
The Bill we have been working on would set up a statutory quasi-judicial dispute resolution authority, with much tighter timelines, which would also reduce the scope of appeal to the judicial system. Our consultations have not produced a negative reaction, though there are some who say that it is not necessary.
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