Introduction of Section 60

This section states that an award made on an arbitration agreement governed by the law of India, though rendered outside India, is attracted by the saving clause in this section of the act and is, therefore not treated in India as a “foreign award”.

Section 60 of arbitration and conciliation act

Saving

Nothing in this Chapter shall prejudice any rights which any person would have had of enforcing in India of any award or of availing himself in India of any award if this Chapter had not been enacted.

Landmark Judgements of Section 60

National Thermal Power Corp vs The Singer Co, 1992

For this purpose, the place where the contract was made, the form and object of the contract, the place of performance, the place of residence or business of the parties, reference to the courts having jurisdiction and such other links have to be examined by the courts to determine the system of law with which the transaction has its closest and most real connection.

Bank Mellat vs Helliniki Techmiki, 1984

In a proceeding which is intended to be controlled by a set of contractual rules which are self sufficient and are designed to cover every step of the proceeding, the need to have recourse to the municipal system of law and the courts of the place of arbitration is reduced to the minimum and the courts of that place are unlikely to interfere with the arbitral proceedings, except in cases which shock the judicial conscience.

Conclusion of Section 60

In the absence of any indication to the contrary, the governing law of contract being Indian law, it is that system of law which must necessarily govern matters concerning arbitration, although in certain respects the law of the place of arbitration may have its relevance in regard to procedural matters.