Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, Justice Gita Mittal, constituted the Arbitration Committee for the Court annexed Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (IAC).

The committee has been constituted by the Chief Justice in the exercise of powers under Rule 3 of the Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (Internal Management) Rules, 2020.

The committee comprises Justice Sindhu Sharma; Justice Rajnesh Oswal; Justice Javed Iqbal Wani; D. C. Raina; Advocate General for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir; Vishal Sharma, Assistant Solicitor General of India, attached to Jammu Wing of the High Court; Tahir Majid Shamsi, Assistant Solicitor General of India, attached to Srinagar Wing of the High Court; Gaurav Pachnanda, Senior Advocate; Abhinav Bushan, Regional Director for South Asia, ICC Arbitration and ADR, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Singapore and Moazzam Khan, Advocate, Head Global Litigation, Nishith Desai Associates.

An official statement said as per Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (Internal Management) Rules,2020, Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir is the Patron-in-Chief of the Jammu & Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (JKIAC). As per

Rule 3.1 (a), Chief Justice has the power to nominate three Judges of the Common High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh as members of the said committee.

Rule 3.1 (b), Advocate General for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and under

Rule 3.1 (c) Assistant Solicitor General of India attached to the Common High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are also members of the committee.

Rule 3.1(d) further empowers the Chief Justice to nominate three more members of the committee out of whom at least one shall be designated Senior Advocate, while the others may be any arbitration expert, in India or abroad.

High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, a few days back, had accorded approval to the setting up of High Court annexed Arbitration Centres at Srinagar and Jammu called as “The Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (JKIAC)” and to ensure that constitution of such Centres is smooth and effective, High Court had also framed “The Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (JKIAC) (International Management) Rules, 2020”.

The setting up of Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre shall go a long way in achieving the objective behind the enactment of Section 89 Civil Procedure Code and at the same time shall ensure that arbitration proceedings remain inexpensive and are carried out within the shortest possible time.

Pertinently, Courts annexed Arbitration Centres are successfully functioning at Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Chennai (Madras) and Cuttack (Orissa).