Introduction The 7-Judge bench of the Supreme Court, delivering the judgment in SBP v. Patel Engineering1-2 did not only overrule its earlier judgment in Konkan Railway v. Rani Constructions3 but set stage for an overhaul in the courts’ role in commercial arbitrations in India. The court in this case ruled that appointment of arbitrators by the court is not an administrative but a judicial action, affecting as it does the material interests of the parties.4 This means that the court may now appoint arbitrators after having examined the contract to determine the validity of the arbitration clause as well as jurisdiction of the arbitrators. The ratio of this judgment has therefore hit hard two precepts fundamental to the powers of the arbitral tribunal in a commercial arbitration, separability,5 and Kompetenz-Kompetenz (o ....