[Civil Appeal No. 7019 of 2005]. [Civil Appeal No. 3678 of 2007]. The residue of the Constitution Bench Judgment in Bharat Aluminium Company v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services Inc.[1] is the subject matter of the present appeal. At the instance of the appellant, the Bench resolved the conflicting, if not, confusing views on the applicability of Part I of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as 'Arbitration Act') and held that "... Part I of the Arbitration Act is applicable only to all the arbitrations which take place within the territory of India", overruling a three-Judge Bench decision of this Court in Bhatia International v. Bulk Trading S.A. and another[2]. Exercising its the power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, the Constitution Bench however, held that the law declared by it would only operate prospectively. In other words, all agreements executed prior to 06.09.2012 were to be governed by the decision in Bhatia International (supra).
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