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Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 · Chapter IV: Supplementary Provisions

Section 87: Effect of arbitral and related court proceedings commenced prior to 23rd October, 2015

In plain words

This section says the 2015 amendments do not apply to arbitrations begun before the 23rd October, 2015, or to court cases arising from them, but do apply to arbitrations begun on or after that date.

  • The Supreme Court struck down the insertion of this section as manifestly arbitrary in Hindustan Construction Company Ltd. v. Union of India, so it is no longer operative.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

Unless the parties otherwise agree, the amendments made to this Act by the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 shall—

(a) not apply to—

(i) arbitral proceedings commenced before the commencement of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (23rd October, 2015);

(ii) court proceedings arising out of or in relation to such arbitral proceedings irrespective of whether such court proceedings are commenced prior to or after the commencement of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015;

(b) apply only to arbitral proceedings commenced on or after the commencement of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 and to court proceedings arising out of or in relation to such arbitral proceedings.]

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 16 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 87