Arbitration Act 1940
Section 27
Court Assistance in taking Evidence
(1) The arbitral tribunal, or a party with the
approval of the arbitral tribunal, may apply to the Court for assistance in
taking evidence.
(2) The application shall specify -
(a) the
names and addresses of the parties and the arbitrators,
(b) the
general nature of the claim and the relief sought;
(c) the
evidence to be obtained, in particular, -
( i )
the name and address of any person to be heard as
witness or expert witness and a statement
of the subject matter of
the testimony required;
(ii) the description of any document to the produced or property
to be inspected.
(3) The Court may, within its competence and
according to its rules on taking evidence, execute the request by ordering that
the evidence be provided directly to the arbitral tribunal.
(4) The Court may, while making an order under
sub-section (3), issue the same processes to witnesses as it may issue in suits
tried before it.
(5) Persons failing to attend in accordance
with such process, or making any other default, or refusing to give their
evidence, or guilty of any contempt to the arbitral tribunal during the conduct
of arbitral proceedings, shall be subject to the like disadvantages, penalties
and punishments by order of the Court on the representation of the arbitral
tribunal as they would incur for the like offences in suits tried before the
Court.
(6) In this section the expression
"Processes" includes summonses and commissions for the examination of
witnesses and summonses to produce documents.