In a significant development for the international arbitration community, the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) has set aside yet another arbitral award issued by a tribunal comprising retired Indian judges, citing a breach of natural justice due to extensive reliance on copy-paste reasoning from prior cases.
Justice Roger Giles ruled on May 5 that the majority of the arbitral tribunal—referred to as Judge A and Judge C—demonstrated a “closed mind” by reproducing large portions of previous awards instead of offering independent analysis tailored to the facts of the present case.
The dispute arose from a contract under the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project in India between a government-owned special purpose vehicle and a consortium of contractors. The tribunal had awarded the contractor ₹80.29 crore plus interest and costs. However, the SICC found that 157 of the 176 substantive paragraphs in the award were either directly lifted or slightly altered versions of paragraphs from earlier decisions, particularly the CTP-13 award.
Notably, the tribunal applied contractual provisions and legal principles from unrelated contracts, and even used Indian law to determine interest and costs—despite the arbitration being seated in Singapore. This replication of prior reasoning, without notifying the parties or providing justification, raised “a reasonable suspicion of bias,” according to the court.
The court emphasized that arbitrators—especially when serving in related matters—must approach each case with an open and independent mind. The use of copy-paste reasoning from earlier awards without fresh consideration or party submissions constituted a serious procedural lapse, thereby violating the claimant’s right to due process.
The decision follows another recent SICC judgment that annulled an arbitral award issued by a panel led by former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on similar grounds.
The court concluded by nullifying the CTP-11 award and instructed the parties to attempt a resolution on costs, failing which further directions would be issued.
