Section 61 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Application and Scope

Section 61 is the opening provision of Part III of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. It defines when the statutory conciliation framework applies and identifies disputes that are excluded from conciliation by law.

Text of Section 61 - Application and Scope

(1) Save as otherwise provided by any law for the time being in force and unless the parties have otherwise agreed, this Part shall apply to conciliation of disputes arising out of legal relationship, whether contractual or not and to all proceedings relating thereto.

(2) This Part shall not apply where by virtue of any law for the time being in force certain disputes may not be submitted to conciliation.

Meaning of Section 61

Section 61 establishes the general field of application of Part III. Subject to any contrary law and any agreement between the parties, the conciliation provisions apply to disputes arising from a legal relationship. The relationship may be contractual, such as one created by an agreement, or non-contractual, provided that a legal relationship exists.

The section also recognizes that conciliation is not available for every kind of dispute. If another law provides that a particular category of dispute cannot be submitted to conciliation, Part III does not override that restriction.

Section 61(1): When Part III applies

Sub-section (1) is subject to two important qualifications. First, another law in force may provide a different rule. Second, the parties may agree otherwise. Subject to those qualifications, Part III applies to conciliation of disputes arising out of legal relationships and to proceedings connected with that conciliation.

The dispute must arise from a legal relationship.
The legal relationship may be contractual or non-contractual.
The operation of Part III remains subject to other applicable laws.
The parties may, where legally permissible, agree on matters concerning the application of the Part.

Section 61(2): Disputes excluded from conciliation

Sub-section (2) preserves statutory restrictions on conciliability. Where a law in force provides that a particular dispute cannot be submitted to conciliation, the conciliation provisions in Part III do not apply to that dispute.

Current position after the Mediation Act, 2023

The Mediation Act, 2023 contains an amendment mechanism under which Sections 61 to 81 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 are intended to be substituted by new provisions dealing with references to conciliation and savings. However, the Central Government's commencement notification dated 9 October 2023 brought specified provisions of the Mediation Act, 2023 into force and did not include Section 61 of that Act.

Accordingly, the substitution contained in the Sixth Schedule has not taken effect through that notification, and the existing Section 61 titled "Application and scope" continues to be relevant as part of the statutory conciliation framework unless and until the amendment provision is brought into force by notification.

Legal note: This page provides statutory text and general explanatory information. For a current dispute, the Act should be read with applicable amendments, commencement notifications and binding judicial decisions.