O. P. Malhotra’s “The Law and Practice of Arbitration and Conciliation” was released in 2002, followed by a second edition four years later in 2006. The first two editions of this commentary are well established in the legal market and have proved to be an invaluable resource for those who wish to study arbitration law in a comprehensive yet lucid manner. The third edition of this book has been released almost a decade later and it has come out at a critical juncture, with the arbitration landscape in India having undergone a significant change and the Law Commission coming out with various amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. This updated edition has been single-handedly written by InduMalhotra, Senior Advocate for the Supreme Court of India, and she has dedicated it to the memory of her late father, O.P. Malhotra, who is the original author of this book and was keen that his work should continue.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the Arbitration Act as well as the judgments delivered by the Supreme Court up till January 2014. It also deals with many recent developments in the law and practice of arbitration, in particular with the question of jurisdiction of domestic courts to entertain challenges to awards made in foreign-seated commercial arbitrations. InduMalhotra has extensively dealt with the landmark decisions connected to this issue and has provided an incisive analysis of the same from a broader perspective. Beginning with judgments such as “Bhatia International” and “Venture Global” wherein it was held that awards in an International Arbitration, even where the seat of the Arbitration was a foreign country, could be challenged in the court of India, and moving on to the decision in “BALCO” where the Constitutional Bench while adapting a literal interpretation, overruled the previous judgments and held that Part I of the Act applies only to arbitrations seated in India, the author has made detailed comments on each of these cases and has also engaged in selective criticism of the same.

In addition to that, the book has discussed various other new and contemporary topics in arbitration, such as the Group of Companies Doctrine, Doctrine of Prospective Over-ruling, Public Policy as a defense in enforcement of domestic and foreign arbitral awards, the law on Mareva injunctions, Anton Pillar Orders and other such issues. Charting the progression of India’s arbitration law, the latest edition also contains a chapter on Anti-Arbitration Injunction, and its application in terms of domestic and foreign arbitrations.

InduMalhotra is the first Indian author to write on the topic of Investment Treaty Arbitration, an area that is of utmost significance for India, especially considering the recent Vodafone Tax Dispute. The chapter discusses some of the key terms and concepts like ‘Investor’, ‘Investment’, ‘Fair and Equitable Treatment of Investments (FET)’, ‘Enforcement Mechanism of Investment Treaty Awards’ and so on. Given that Indian publications have not dealt with Investment Arbitration in the past, this segment is definitely a good starting discussion on the essential elements of the Bilateral Investment Treaty, although some of the more complicated issues could be looked into in future editions, such as the scope of the Investment chapter in the Free Trade Agreements that India has signed with countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan.

The chapter on Investment Treaty Arbitration also includes a small section on the ‘Indian Perspective’ where the author has traced the history of Investment Arbitration in India right from liberalization of the foreign investment policy to the point where the Government of India initiated negotiations with various countries to enter into Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT). Referring to the dispute resolution clause in Indian BITs, this segment also sheds light on the various proceedings that have been brought against India, which include the “White Industries vs. Republic of India” case. The author has provided a detailed comment on this case as well as a critical appraisal of the various issues that arose therein.

In conclusion, InduMalhotra has done a great service to the memory of her illustrious father and to the legal fraternity in bringing out the third edition of this classic commentary on arbitration law and I believe that much like the previous editions, this edition would also prove to be invaluable in the evolution of arbitration law and an obvious choice for professionals, academicians and all others wish to expand their knowledge and understanding of arbitration law in India.