BY ALOK KRISHNA AGARWAL.
Think about it
Times they are a changing sang the revolutionary Rock icon Bob Dylan many years ago. But now, the times seem to be changing really fast. Look around for yourself, the computer has replaced the typewriters so fast, that one could have never imagined.
It is not merely the technological change, but, it is infact, an attitudinal and mind set change. Fading out is the easy and slow approach that was pervasive in all spheres. The Judiciary talks of fast track Courts. The litigants want fast decisions. The Judges want to reduce the backlog. The emphasis, everywhere is on speed today. Similarly, the legislations are getting framed in a manner, so as to obtain fast results.
It is, in this backdrop, that the recent, Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act was passed. The Act is modeled on similar British and European legislations. The Act no doubt is salutary. It will deal with the defaulters in a more comprehensive and efficacious manner. The lending institutions can act with speed and force to secure realizations.
However, the Act has one particular provision which makes one sit-up. For, in case of certain disputes, it provides that the dispute resolution shall compulsorily be by Arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1996. The Courts are shutout. Arbitration thus becomes mandatory and statutory. Arbitration has been always recognised as an elective forum. But this is not the case in this enactment. Is it the right approach, are the Courts not being divested of their powers and Jurisdictions. Is this the signs of future times and legislations to come.