ARBITRATION AWARD AGAINST FOREIGN EMBASSY: TEST OF SOVEREIGN FUNCTIONS
Shubham Budhiraja [1] The Embassy entered into a contract with Company and dispute arises and accordingly arbitration invoked and it passes award in favor of company and against the embassy. There was no challenge or objection to award either and thus it became final. The Company files for enforcement of award just like execution of decree under Order 21 CPC. The Embassy took defense of sovereign immunity and claimed that prior consent of CG required under Section 86 CPC. The Delhi High court held that Section 86 Prior consent of CG not required and sovereign immunity is not available because embassy entered into commercial transaction which has nothing to do with sovereign functions. Also, that the award as decree is for limited purpose due to legal fiction Case Law Relevant Remarks Bharat Aluminium Company v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services Ltd. (2012) 9 SCC 552 It must be remembered that Part I of the Arbitration Act, 1996 a