ABSENCE OF WRITTEN CONTRACT SHOULDN'T HAMPER DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

The Supreme Court has ruled that the absence of a signed contract between the parties should not come in the way of arbitration for resolving the disputes. The intention of the parties forming such a contract is to be considered in order to decide the issue of arbitration, said Apex Court rejecting the plea of Vedanta Aluminium. The apex court allowed the plea of Dubai-based minerals trading company, Trimex International EZE, seeking arbitration to resolve its dispute with Vedanta Aluminium, a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources. Once the contract is concluded orally or in writing, the mere fact that a formal contract has to be prepared and initialed by the parties would not affect either the acceptance of the contract so entered into or implementation thereof, even if the formal contract has never been initialed.