Part IA: The Arbitration Council of India, In Force but Not in Existence

Note the machinery: establishment is by notification of the Central Government. That is the step that has not been taken.

Section 43C: composition. A seven-member body:

• (a) a person who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, or Chief Justice of a High Court, or a Judge of a High Court, or an eminent person having special knowledge and experience in the conduct or administration of arbitration, appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, as Chairperson;
• (b) an eminent arbitration practitioner with substantial knowledge and experience in institutional arbitration, domestic and international, nominated by the Central Government, as Member;
• (c) an eminent academician with experience in research and teaching in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution laws, appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chairperson, as Member;
• (d) the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Legal Affairs, or a representative not below the rank of Joint Secretary, Member ex officio;
• (e) the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Expenditure, or such a representative, Member ex officio;
• (f) one representative of a recognised body of commerce and industry, chosen on a rotational basis by the Central Government, Part-time Member; and
• (g) the Chief Executive Officer, Member-Secretary, ex officio.

Section 43C(2): the Chairperson and Members other than ex officio Members hold office for three years, and a proviso bars holding office after attaining seventy years in the case of the Chairperson and sixty-seven years in the case of a Member.

The remaining sections complete the scheme, and it is worth naming each rather than reciting a range, because a Part IA question can ask for any of them.

• Section 43D: duties and functions of the Council, including framing policies for grading arbitral institutions, for accrediting arbitrators, and for the uniform professional standards of all alternative dispute resolution matters.
• Section 43E: vacancies, etc., not to invalidate proceedings of Council. The standard saving, so an act of the Council is not void merely because a seat was empty or the constitution defective. Compare section 3(8) of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, chapter 40.
• Section 43F: resignation of Members. A Member may resign by writing addressed to the Central Government.
• Section 43G: removal of Member. The grounds and the procedure for removing the Chairperson or a Member.
• Section 43H: appointment of experts and constitution of Committees thereof. The Council may appoint experts and constitute committees of experts on such terms as it thinks necessary to discharge its functions.
• Section 43-I: general norms for grading arbitral institutions, on which the 2019 scheme for appointments under section 11 depends.
• Section 43J: norms for accreditation of arbitrators. Read with chapter 450: the Eighth Schedule, which originally prescribed those qualifications, was omitted by the 2021 amendment.
• Section 43K: depository of awards. The Council is to maintain an electronic depository of arbitral awards and related records.
• Section 43L: power to make regulations by Council, consistent with the Act and the rules.
• Section 43M: Chief Executive Officer, who is to be responsible for the day to day administration of the Council, together with a secretariat.

Two of those are worth naming for an examination answer, because they are the substance of what the Council was for: section 43-I, general norms for the grading of arbitral institutions, and section 43J, norms for the accreditation of arbitrators. Section 43K, the depository of awards, is the other novelty: a national record of awards.

Why the vacancy matters beyond Part IA

The gap is not confined to this Part, and this is what makes it worth a chapter rather than a paragraph.

The 2019 amendment also rewrote section 11, chapter 270, so that appointments would be made by arbitral institutions designated by the Supreme Court or the High Courts, those institutions being graded by the Council under section 43-I. A scheme that depends on graded institutions cannot operate while there is nobody to grade them.

So the practical position is that appointments continue to be made by the courts and their designates under section 11 as chapter 270 sets it out, and the institutional appointment machinery waits on the Council.

There is a close parallel in Module III. The Mediation Act 2023 establishes a Mediation Council of India, and the Government told the Lok Sabha on 13 February 2026 that its Chairperson and Members are yet to be appointed and that the Council is yet to be established. Chapter 620 works through that. Two councils, two Acts, the same gap between the statute book and the institution. That parallel is worth drawing in an answer about the state of ADR in India.

A worked example

A student is asked: "Discuss the Arbitration Council of India."

A weak answer describes section 43C's composition and stops, leaving the reader to assume the Council is sitting in Delhi doing this work.

A wrong answer says Part IA has not been brought into force. It has, since 12 October 2023.

A complete answer does four things.

One, the purpose. Explains why a Council was thought necessary: an ad hoc arbitration culture, court-driven appointments, no quality control, and the ambition to make India a seat of international arbitration.

Two, the scheme. Sets out establishment by notification under section 43B, the seven-member composition under section 43C, and the core functions, grading of institutions under section 43-I, accreditation of arbitrators under section 43J, and the depository of awards under section 43K.

Three, the status. States that Part IA came into force on 12 October 2023, and that the Government informed the Lok Sabha on 6 February 2026 that the Council has not been constituted as yet.

Four, the consequence. Notes that the 2019 scheme for appointments through graded arbitral institutions under section 11 therefore cannot operate, so appointments continue through the courts, and draws the parallel with the Mediation Council of India.

What beginners get wrong

Part IA is in force. Do not describe it as unnotified.

The Council has not been constituted. Do not describe it as functioning.

The Chairperson need not be a judge. Section 43C(1)(a) allows an eminent person with special knowledge and experience in the conduct or administration of arbitration.

It is a body corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal, not a departmental committee.

Its absence has consequences elsewhere in the Act, principally for the 2019 scheme of institutional appointments under section 11.

Quick revision

• Part IA, sections 43A to 43M, inserted by Act 33 of 2019, s.10, w.e.f. 12 October 2023.
• 43B: the Central Government shall by notification establish the Arbitration Council of India, a body corporate, head office at Delhi.
• 43C: seven members: a Chairperson who has been a Supreme Court Judge, a Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court, or an eminent person, appointed in consultation with the Chief Justice of India; an eminent arbitration practitioner; an eminent academician; the Secretaries of the Departments of Legal Affairs and Expenditure ex officio; one representative of a recognised body of commerce and industry as Part-time Member; and the Chief Executive Officer as Member-Secretary. Term three years; age limits seventy and sixty-seven.
• Functions include grading arbitral institutions (43-I), accrediting arbitrators (43J) and a depository of awards (43K).
• In force since 12 October 2023, and not constituted: Lok Sabha USQ 1223, answered 6 February 2026, "The Arbitration Council of India has not been constituted as yet."

Test yourself

1. Is Part IA of the Act in force? Yes. It was inserted by Act 33 of 2019, section 10, with effect from 12 October 2023.

2. Does the Arbitration Council of India exist? No. Answering Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1223 on 6 February 2026, the Government stated that the Arbitration Council of India has not been constituted as yet.

3. Who may be Chairperson of the Council? Under section 43C(1)(a), a person who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, or Chief Justice of a High Court, or a Judge of a High Court, or an eminent person having special knowledge and experience in the conduct or administration of arbitration, appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

4. Name three functions the Council was to perform. Framing general norms for the grading of arbitral institutions under section 43-I; laying down norms for the accreditation of arbitrators under section 43J; and maintaining a depository of arbitral awards under section 43K.

5. What practical consequence follows from the Council not existing? The 2019 scheme under section 11, by which appointments would be made by arbitral institutions designated by the Supreme Court or the High Courts and graded by the Council, cannot operate, so appointments continue to be made by the courts and their designates.