Former CJI Bharucha recuses himself from KG basin Arbitration

In a fresh turn of events in the Krishna Godavari basin arbitration between Reliance Industries Limited and the Government, former Chief Justice of India S.P Bharucha has recused himself from the arbitral panel.

Former CJI Bharucha was nominated by Reliance Industries, but the government had contested the same. As per the Government, the former CJI had not disclosed his previous association with RIL. Moreover, the Government had claimed that the former CJI in April, through a letter had said, "If I had any reason to doubt my ability to decide the issues involved in the arbitration, I would not have accepted the nomination as arbitrator."Also, in the disclosure which has to be made under the Arbitration Act, he had stated, "he has nothing to add in his earlier response except he holds shares of Reliance industries or any associated company".

However, the government in its appeal had contested the same and said, "Contrary to the stand taken by Justice Bharucha the lawyers of Reliance informed in June 2014 that Justice Bharucha has given opinions to RIL between 2009-2012 and disclosed the fees paid to him," Recently, the arbitration saw the appointment of retired Australian judge, Michael Kirby on the arbitral panel. The Government on its part has named former Supreme Court judge, Justice Singhvi as its choice.

You may read more of our coverage on the case here