The Owners & Parties Interested In The ... vs State Of Trading Corportion Of India ...

The Supreme Court addressed the applicability of the arbitration clause in the Charter Party Agreement under Section 45 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, in the context of a dispute arising from Bills of Lading. The Court held that the High Court erred in ruling that the arbitration clause was not applicable to the disputes related to the Bills of Lading, thereby reinforcing the principle that arbitration agreements should be honored unless explicitly excluded. The Court allowed the appeal, directing that the disputes be referred to arbitration as per the terms of the Charter Party Agreement.