Centre Appoints Former Supreme Court Judge Hemant Gupta As Chairperson of New Delhi International Arbitration Centre

The Central Government has appointed former Supreme Court Judge Hemant Gupta as the Chairperson of New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet uploaded an information note approving Justice Gupta's appointment.

The NDIAC is an autonomous institution based in New Delhi, to conduct arbitration, mediation, and conciliation proceedings. It was established in 2019 and declared as an Institute of National Importance by an Act of Parliament. It seeks to establish a regime for institutionalised arbitration. Along with (Retd.) Justice Gupta, Shri Ganesh Chandru and Shri Anant Vijay Palli have been appointed as part-time members of the NDIAC.

Justice Gupta was appointed as a Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, following in the footsteps of his father who was once the Chief Justice of the same High Court. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on November 2nd, 2018 and had retired on October 16th, 2022 after serving a tenure of nearly four years.

Justice Hemant Gupta had come into spotlight after his judgement in the Hijab Ban case. While stating that, "Secularism is applicable to all citizens, therefore, permitting one religious community to wear their religious symbols would be antithesis to secularism", the then Supreme Court judge had dismissed the 26 appeals filed against the judgment of the Karnataka High Court which held that hijab was not an essential practice of Islam and allowed the ban on wearing headscarf in educational institutions in the State.