India, July 19 -- In an unusually candid critique of both judicial intervention and government policy, Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Saturday warned that "erratic court verdicts" and "regressive" decisions of the Union finance ministry have undermined India's ambition of becoming a global arbitration hub, questioning how the Centre's recent approach can be reconciled with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of promoting institutional arbitration.

Delivering the keynote address on "Arbitration in India: Reform, Relevance and the Road Ahead", organised by The Law Forum, Justice Bhuyan said a series of recent developments, including a 2024 Supreme Court judgment in the Delhi Metro arbitration dispute and subsequent policy ch...