Ensure level playing field for all entities
by Suman Gupta
London, June 6, 2026: Hon’ble Chief Justice of India Mr. Surya Kant while addressing the ICA’s 4th Edition of the International Conference on “Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes” at London, today made a strong case for strengthening Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism to realise the aspiration of the free trade agreement (FTA) concluded between India and United Kingdom last year.
Hon’ble Justice Surya Kant said, “We need to strengthen the institutional arbitration that are required to ensure that party autonomy remains a guarantee of procedural fairness rather than a source of procedural contestation.”
Referring to the FTA concluded between India and UK, he said it is expected to increase bilateral trade between the two nations by an estimated USD 34 billion a year in the near future, which is indeed an aspiration of extraordinary ambition.
“But ambitions are realized in contracts, not in communiqués. The Indo-UK economic partnership cannot be strengthened by trade agreements, tariff schedules, and investment announcements alone. It also needs an ADR architecture that converts commercial confidence into day-to-day practice,” Justice Surya Kant said on June 5.
A corridor is not strengthened merely because goods, capital, and services are allowed to move across it. It is strengthened when those who use that corridor know that if something goes wrong, they will not be priced out, delayed out, forced into a process they had no real power to choose, he added.
Observing that the next wave of Indo-UK trade will not be carried out by conglomerates, Justice Kant said, it will be taken forward by pharmaceutical suppliers, fintech firms, clean energy businesses, digital platforms, and mid-market manufacturers on both sides.
“If our ADR mechanisms work only for disputes large enough to justify high fee or large legal teams, that might fail the very commercial partnership that are meant to support,” he said stressing “We must, therefore, introspect how to ensure equal level playing field for all.”
Strongly batting for informed neutrality, Justice Surya Kant called for setting up of a joint Indo-UK arbitrator accreditation and cross-training program in order to build a shared pool of practitioners genuinely fluent in both ecosystems.
He also suggested creation of a swift protocol to deal with disputes relating to technology licensing disputes, fintech partnerships breakdowns, and so on. “For these, institutional arbitration framework should be suitably provided, and that platform should be something which is acceptable and affordable by all of them. This will require a capped fee, a primary documentary procedure, online hearing where appropriate, a short mediation window, and a defined timetable for final determination,” said Justice Kant.
The Chief Justice made a case for connecting arbitration with mediation through properly designed hybrid protocols. Many Indo-UK disputes will arise within continuing relationships—joint ventures, distribution networks, technology partnerships, infrastructure contracts. In all such relationships, the best outcome is often not a winning award but a preserved commercial relationship. India’s Mediation Act 2023 and the growing mediation culture in the UK give us ample foundation. “We need to build protocols that are properly safeguarded for confidentiality and impartiality,” he added.
In his keynote address, Rt. Hon. Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice of England and Wales, spoke about the evolving role of technology and artificial intelligence in dispute resolution and highlighted the importance of maintaining trust, fairness, and efficiency within legal systems.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kartik Pande, Deputy High Commissioner of India to United Kingdom said that Indian Government remains fully committed to promote ADR for faster resolution of disputes.
Mr. Brett Dixon, Vice President, The Law Society of England and Wales emphasized on the importance of legal cooperation, institutional engagement, and effective dispute resolution mechanisms in strengthening business confidence and commercial partnerships.
Dr. NG Khaitan, President, ICA and and Senior Partner, Khaitan & Co, said that people have reposed trust and confidence in India, which today is one of the safest place to do business. He also stressed on the need to promote arbitration to expeditiously resolve commercial disputes and said that judgments of the Indian courts are cited all over the world.
Mr. Arun Chawla, Director General, ICA said that arbitration has become a silent infrastructure of growth and emphasized that both India and UK are investing in the strengthening the arbitration system.
About ICA: The Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA), established in 1965 by the Government of India and FICCI, is India’s premier arbitral institution dedicated to the promotion and development of arbitration, conciliation, mediation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. Over the past six decades, ICA has developed collaborative relationships with more than 50 arbitral institutions and international organizations worldwide and continues to play a significant role in strengthening India’s ADR ecosystem and promoting investor confidence through effective institutional dispute resolution mechanisms.
