The Supreme Court Observer's annual review for 2025 examines the Indian Supreme Court's arbitration jurisprudence under the framing theme "Arbitration and the limits of judicial repair." The review surveys how the Court has approached the boundary between correcting arbitral errors and rewriting arbitral awards.

The title signals the central tension the review identifies: courts can review arbitration outcomes, but only within limits. The phrase "limits of judicial repair" captures the question of when judicial intervention becomes impermissible substitution of the court's own view for that of the arbitral tribunal.

For practitioners, the review's framing speaks directly to recurring disputes under India's arbitration framework — particularly challenges to awards under the grounds available in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and appeals against orders setting aside or refusing to set aside awards. Parties resisting interference routinely argue that the court is undertaking "judicial repair" beyond its statutory remit, while challenging parties press for correction of patent errors.

The review consolidates the year's rulings into a single narrative of where the Court draws that line. It offers advocates and arbitrators a synthesis of the doctrinal position at the close of 2025.

Full access to the review, including case-specific analysis, is available through Supreme Court Observer.