Amendment in the Arbitration Council of India (Number of officers and other Employees, their qualifications, appointment and other Terms and Conditions) Rules, 2022 (“Rules”)

The Ministry of Law & Justice in exercise of powers conferred by Section 84(1) read with Section 43M (4) and (5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has published a Notification G.S.R. 530(E) dated 09th July 2022 , thereby, formulating the Rules for number of officers and other employees, their qualifications, appointment and other terms and conditions of services of the Secretariat of the Council. The key highlights of the amendment are as follows:

I. Number of Post, Classification and level in pay matrix (Rule 3): Specified under columns (2) to (4) of the Schedule.

II. Method of Recruitment, age limit, qualifications (Rule 4): Columns (5) to (13) of the Schedule.

III. Appointment on temporary basis (Rule 5): Appointment of temporary person in accordance with the opinion of the Selection Committee for a period of 1 year, which may be extended to a maximum of 3 years with approval of Council.

IV. Procedure for direct recruitment (Rule 7): The procedure has been enumerated as follows:
a. the Council shall invite applications for the post through an advertisement on all India basis;
b. the applications shall be screened by a Screening Committee constituted by the Chairperson; and
c. the Selection Committee may, if it considers appropriate, recommend a preliminary examination to be conducted through an agency having experience in the field of conducting such examination selected on the basis of an open competitive process.
V. Procedure for appointment on deputation (Rule 8): The procedure for appointment on deputation has been provided as follows:
a. the Council shall invite applications for the posts through an advertisement on all India basis;
b. the applications shall be screened by a Screening Committee constituted by the Chairperson; and
c. interviews shall be conducted for selection by the Selection Committee:

Provided that the initial appointment to the posts on deputation basis may be made by the Central Government.

VI. Period of deputation (Rule 9): Shall not ordinarily exceed three years but may be extended with approval of the Central Government, with prior approval of the Council. The maximum age limit for appointment on deputation has been set to 56 years on the closing date of the receipt of the applications.

VII. Disqualification (Rule 14): No person, (a) who has entered into or contracted a marriage with a person having a spouse living; or (b) who, having a spouse living, has entered into or contracted a marriage with any person, shall be eligible for appointment to any of the said posts:

IMPACT OF THE AMENDMENT:
The amendment intends to address the terms and conditions of the officers and employees, while setting forth the requirement criteria for their appointment. The said amendment allows improvement in the competency of the personnel appointed in the Secretariat of the Council, thereby, striving to improve the standard of arbitration matters.