Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre (NPAC), is a non profit Sec 25 company founded by Palkhivala Foundation. It was started keeping in mind the growing burden on Indian courts and the inordinate delay disposal of litigation through court.
Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre (NPAC) is a non-profit company registered under the Companies Act 1956, with the aim of providing world class facilities to conduct arbitration proceedings and also to make it a centre of excellence in the matter of Institutional Arbitration. NPAC also provides advisory services relating to drafting and finalising arbitration agreements for Institutional Arbitration.
NPAC is formally recognized by the Madras High Court to render assistance in Arbitration matters by an order dated 21.9.2005 of the Madras High Court. The purpose of establishing the Centre is to provide quick, efficient and cost effective arbitration services and to disseminate information relating to Arbitration.
All income earned by the institution applied to improving the quality of facilities offered at the Centre and to create awareness of the process of Institutional Arbitration. There is no declaration of dividends or distribution of profits. The Directors do not draw any salary for their services.
One of the goals of the NPAC is to promote institutional arbitration. In this regard, Institutional rules are made available to the parties, arbitrators and institutions. NPAC has its own institutional rules which could be incorporated in all existing and pre-existing contracts between the parties.
NPAC is one of the few recognized institutions on arbitration in India with an outstanding panel of arbitrators. Its regulations have adopted the best practices in international centres. It has become increasingly popular in South India as the preferred venue for conducting arbitration proceedings.
The following are some of the activities of NPAC:
NPAC panel of arbitrators are outstanding persons of eminence representing the Bar, Commerce, Education, Trade & Industry. They include retired judges of various High Courts, retired Civil Servants, Chartered Engineers, Chartered Accountants.
NPAC provides opportunity for Law Students to do an internship with the Centre. This helps mutually the Centre as well as the interns. The interns also earn a nominal fee during the period of internship.
An international conference on Arbitration matters is held annually. The conferences held in the last few years, at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi were well received by the international legal community.
NPAC conducts courses in Arbitration regularly. NPAC has entered into an MoU with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, U.K. In the last few years, a number of courses have been conducted at NPAC.
NPAC was invited to attend as observers to the 27thSession of UNCITRAL Working Group III (Online Dispute Resolution) to be held in New York, from 20th to 24th 2013 at the United Nations Headquarters. Mr.N.L.Rajah, Director, NPAC, participated as an independent observer representing the Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre at the Working Group session of UNCITRAL at New York in May 2013.
NPAC extends its supports to the law colleges and Universities to conduct Moot Courts.
NPAC conducts Essay competition on Arbitration for the Law students named after Late Mr.Satya Hegde a patron and friend of NPAC.
NPAC also conducts Leadership Camp for the college students with the Forum of Free Enterprise, Mumbai.
Arvind P.Datar & Mr.N.L.Rajah was nominated as member of an expert committee appointed to prepare the 246th report of the Law Commission of India to suggest amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.
We as Institutional Arbitrators have been successful in conducting cases wherein some of them have made their settlements immediately after they receive the first notice. Many Parties have come for a settlement after negotiation.
As healers of human conflicts, the obligation of the legal profession is to provide mechanisms that can produce an acceptable result in the shortest possible time, with the shortest possible expense and the minimum of stress on the participants.