AgustaWestland's Arbitration Against India Moves Forward, Third Judge Appointed

A third judge has been appointed at long last in the international arbitration requested by AgustaWestland against India after the cancellation of the 560 million euro AW101 helicopter contract in December. 

The news of the appointment comes only days after India’s Central Bureau of Investigation announced it has failed to find any evidence of bribery while the Italian magistrates have similarly dropped all charges against AW and its parent company, Finmeccanica.

As the two arbitrators appointed by AW and the Indian government failed to agree on the third, the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris has appointed to the position William W. Park, a professor of law at Boston University, Italian daily Il Sole reported Aug 31, according to Defense-aerospace.com.

Park joins the Indian government arbitrator, BP Jeevan Reddy, a former judge of the Supreme Court, and the one appointed by AW, BN Srikrishna, a former president of the High Court of the Indian state of Kerala. 

International arbitration is AgustaWestland’s final opportunity to recover the 228 million euros in bank guarantees paid to India, as well as possible damages for a contract cancellation it still considers unfounded, the report added.  

Under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996, Arbitration would be conducted in India and the proceedings will be confidential, according to the company.

The company has to date been paid 50 million euros for the three aircraft it had delivered before India froze deliveries. 

The arbitration process could take several years. The next step is for the arbitration panel to meet to agree on a schedule. Arbitrators will probably wait to see the final outcome of the CBI investigations in India, the report concluded.