Section 84: Power of Central Government to Make Rules

Text of Section 84

The official text of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is available through India Code.

Meaning of Section 84

Section 84 is a delegated legislation provision. Parliament has enacted the principal statutory framework in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and has authorized the Central Government to make subordinate rules needed for carrying out the Act.

The section does not give an unlimited power to alter the statute. Rules made under Section 84 must operate within the scope and purpose of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and cannot override the Act itself.

Notification in the Official Gazette

Section 84(1) expressly requires the Central Government to exercise the rule-making power by notification in the Official Gazette. Gazette publication provides the formal legal mechanism through which rules made under the section are notified.

Rules Must Be Laid Before Parliament

Section 84(2) requires every rule made by the Central Government under the Act to be laid before each House of Parliament as soon as may be after it is made.

The rule must remain before Parliament for an aggregate period of thirty days. The thirty-day period may fall within a single parliamentary session or may be spread across two or more successive sessions.

Power of Parliament to Modify or Annul a Rule

If both Houses of Parliament agree, within the period contemplated by Section 84(2), that a rule should be modified, the rule thereafter operates only in its modified form. If both Houses agree that the rule should not have been made, the rule thereafter has no effect.

Difference Between Section 82 and Section 84

Section 82 and Section 84 create different rule-making powers. Section 82 authorizes a High Court to make rules, consistent with the Act, concerning proceedings before the Court under the Act.

Section 84, by contrast, authorizes the Central Government to make rules by Official Gazette notification for carrying out the provisions of the Act generally, subject to the parliamentary laying procedure contained in Section 84(2).

Section 84 and Delegated Legislation

Rules made under Section 84 are subordinate to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. They may supplement the operation of the statute where rule-making authority exists, but they cannot validly contradict the parent Act.

When relying on any rule said to have been made under the Act, users should verify the relevant Gazette notification, the legal authority under which the rule was issued, and any later amendment, substitution or annulment.

Current Legal Position

The current official India Code text continues to reproduce Section 84 in Part IV of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 under the heading "Supplementary Provisions." The provision remains in force in the form explained above.