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Home › Section 27 Assistance
Practice Guide · 4 September 2026

Section 27: When the Court Helps an Arbitral Tribunal Take Evidence

Arbitrators cannot compel strangers — Section 27 lends them the court's coercive machinery for witnesses and documents.

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An arbitral tribunal draws its authority from contract, and contract binds only the parties. When a crucial witness is a former employee who refuses to appear, or the documents that decide the case sit with a bank, a government office or a rival firm, the tribunal's own powers run out. Section 27 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 bridges that gap: it lets the tribunal, or a party with the tribunal's approval, apply to the court for assistance in taking evidence — putting the subpoena power of the civil court at arbitration's service. This article explains how the mechanism works and how to use it well.

Why the provision exists

Arbitration's great strength — a consensual, private tribunal — is also its structural weakness with third parties. A tribunal can draw adverse inferences against a party who withholds its own documents, but it cannot summon the party's banker, compel a reluctant expert, or force a government department to produce a file. Section 27 solves this by co-opting the court: the tribunal identifies the evidence it needs; the court supplies the compulsion. The design keeps the tribunal in charge of relevance while reserving coercion — the State's monopoly — to the judiciary.

The mechanism, step by step

1. Approval from the tribunal. The party moves the tribunal identifying the witness or documents, their custodian, and their relevance to identified issues. Tribunal approval — often recorded in a procedural order — is the statutory precondition.
2. Application to the court. The application specifies, as the section requires, the names and addresses of the parties and arbitrators, the general nature of the claim and relief, and the evidence sought — the name and address of the person to be examined and the documents or property to be produced.
3. The court's order. Within its competence and its rules on attendance, the court executes the request — summoning the witness or custodian to give evidence, produce documents, or both, directly before the tribunal or as the court directs.
4. Compliance or consequences. Process issued under the order carries the sanctions of court process; non-compliance is dealt with by the court under Section 27(5).

What courts look for before assisting

The tribunal's application of mind. A speaking approval order — identifying why the evidence matters — travels far better than a mechanical "approved". Courts are slow to second-guess a reasoned tribunal, and quick to reject fishing expeditions the tribunal itself never scrutinised.
Specificity. Named witnesses, listed documents, identified custodians. Roving demands for "all correspondence" invite refusal.
Third-party protections. Banks, auditors and public offices may claim privilege, confidentiality or statutory bars; the court balances these as it would in a suit, sometimes with safeguards such as confidentiality clubs.
Timing. Applications landing at the fag end of the evidence stage, with Section 29A deadlines looming, face scepticism about bona fides.

Section 27 is for taking evidence, not for interim relief or discovery against the opposing party at large. Documents in the hands of the opposite party are better pursued before the tribunal itself, which can order production and draw adverse inferences; Section 27 earns its keep against non-parties and recalcitrant witnesses.

Practical drafting pointers

Move the tribunal early — map the third-party evidence you need when evidence is first scheduled.

Draft the approval application issue-wise: which pleaded issue each witness or document answers.

Mirror the statutory particulars in the court application to avoid registry objections.

Propose the mode — appearance before the tribunal on a fixed date, or production to the tribunal's secretariat — to make the order easy to pass.

Calendar the arbitration timeline; seek expedition where Section 29A pressure exists.

The larger point

Well-used, Section 27 removes the last excuse for treating arbitration as a second-class fact-finding process: the tribunal's reach, supplemented by the court's arm, extends to every witness and document a civil suit could touch. Poorly used, it becomes a delay device — which is exactly why the approval requirement and the court's scrutiny exist. Parties who prepare their third-party evidence strategy at the outset, rather than mid-hearing, extract its full value. This article is general information about arbitration practice and is not legal advice in any individual matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can apply under Section 27?

The arbitral tribunal itself, or a party — but a party only with the approval of the tribunal. That gatekeeping is deliberate: the tribunal certifies that the evidence sought is relevant and necessary, which is why a reasoned application before the tribunal for approval is the real first step.

What orders can the court pass?

The court may execute the request by ordering that the evidence be provided directly to the tribunal, and may issue the same processes to witnesses as in suits — summons to appear, summons to produce documents, and commissions. The section extends the court's ordinary coercive machinery to arbitral proceedings.

What happens if a person disobeys?

Section 27(5) provides that persons failing to attend, refusing to give evidence or committing contempts to the arbitral tribunal during proceedings are subject to the like penalties and punishments as they would incur for similar offences in suits — imposed by the court on the tribunal's representation. Defiance of arbitral process is thus punishable through the court.

Which court is approached?

The "court" as defined in Section 2(1)(e) — for domestic arbitrations of the requisite value seated in Delhi, ordinarily the Commercial Division framework of the High Court of Delhi or the Commercial Courts, depending on value and subject matter. The application travels to the court that would have jurisdiction over the arbitration's subject matter.

Note: This article is general information about the law and is not legal advice. It does not create an advocate-client relationship. The position stated is as at 4 September 2026 and may have changed since. Readers should verify any provision or decision referred to against the official text and seek advice on their own circumstances.