Archive · 8 Oct 2026
Madhya Pradesh High Court Upholds Arbitration Fees, Bars IDA Officer Payment
A person asked for compensation after a municipal corporation demolition.
The claim was for Rs 30.46 lakh.
A panel was appointed to assess the claim, and it set fees using rules in a national arbitration law.
The panel said the claimant and the Indore Municipal Corporation should split the costs.
The corporation challenged that decision, but the Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed its appeals.
The court said the arbitration law could be used because it did not conflict with the law governing the compensation claim.
It also said an officer from the Indore Development Authority who was on the panel must not receive a fee.
Any money otherwise due to him must instead be deposited in the authority’s account.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed appeals by the Indore Municipal Corporation and others over arbitration fees in a compensation dispute.
The dispute concerns a claim for Rs 30.46 lakh following demolition under Section 387 of the Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956.
The court held that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, can apply unless its provisions conflict with the other law; it found no conflict here.
The arbitration panel had set fees under the 1996 Act and directed the claimant and the corporation to share expenses equally.
The court ruled that the Indore Development Authority officer on the panel cannot receive remuneration; any such sum must go to the IDA account.
- Who
- The Indore Municipal Corporation and others appealed; a panel including an Indore Development Authority officer assessed the compensation claim.
- What
- The Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld use of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, for setting panel fees, but barred the IDA officer from receiving remuneration.
- When
- The division bench dismissed the appeals against writ court orders dated October 10, 2023; the date of the High Court ruling is not stated.
- Where
- Madhya Pradesh, India; the dispute and panel proceedings were in Indore.
- Why
- The court found no inconsistency between applying the 1996 arbitration law and the municipal law governing the compensation claim.
Indore Municipal Corporation
High Court
Fee rules and cost sharing
Indore Municipal Corporation
The corporation argued that the fees were excessive and that the claimant, having invoked Section 387, should bear all expenses.
High Court
The court found the Arbitration and Conciliation Act could govern the arbitration proceedings because it did not conflict with the municipal law, and left the equal-sharing arrangement in place.
- Court
- Madhya Pradesh High Court
- Bench
- Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Alok Awasthi
- Claim amount
- Rs 30.46 lakh
- Relevant municipal law
- Section 387 of the Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956
- Arbitration law applied
- Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
- Fee arrangement
- The claimant and the Indore Municipal Corporation were directed to share expenses equally.
- IDA officer's remuneration
- The officer may receive no fee; any amount otherwise payable must be deposited in the IDA account.