Published on : 24 Oct 2025, 4:13 am 3 min read

The Delhi High Court recently held that “issue conflict” by itself is not enough to disqualify an arbitrator unless there is concrete evidence of bias or prejudice [Steel Authority of India Limited v. British Marine PLC] .

Issue conflict refers to concerns that an arbitrator who has taken a position on a legal issue in a prior arbitration involving the same or related parties may be biased and unable to decide the same issue with an open mind in another arbitration.

Justice Jyoti Singh ruled that that merely because an arbitrator has decided an issue in another arbitration where one party may be common to the arbitration in question, it cannot be held that there are justifiable doubts on the impartiality of the arbitrator.

“I

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