Madras High Court Held That De Novo Remand Under Section 37 Of The Arbitration And Conciliation Act, 1996 Cannot Be Done In The Absence Of Reversal Of Findings On Merits

The High Court of Madras through its judgment dated 17.11.2025 in Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. v. ICMC Corporation Ltd.¹ affirmed that the multiple de novo remand orders passed by division benches under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“A&C Act”) were unsustainable since the High Court did not dealt with the findings on merits recorded by the court at time of passing of order under Section 34 of the A&C Act.

The High Court emphasized that Order XLI, Rules 23, 23 A and 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”) are attracted to intra-court appeals by the virtue of Rule 9(v) of the Madras High Court (Arbitration) Rules, 2020 which permit a wholesale remand only when the appellate court overturns the judgment on merits and there exists no inherent power of remand thereunder.

The High Court noted that de-novo drills directed by the division benches were incapable of implementation and granted liberty to the parties to seek review before the division benches.

Footnote

1. 13 OP No. 821 of 2019

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