Devyani Phosphates Pvt. Ltd. v. Rashtriya Chhemicla and Fertilizers Ltd.
Arbitration – Limitation – Section 34, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 – Petition filed in 2025 challenging award dated 11th March, 2019
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court, Commercial Division, Arbitration Petition No. 625 of 2025 (decided 12 March 2026): Devyani Phosphates Pvt Ltd v Rashtriya Chhemicla And Fertilizers Ltd. Section 34 challenge to an award dated 11.03.2019, filed in 2025, held time-barred and dismissed; petitioner's claim of ignorance of the award until an execution notice (03.04.2025) and receipt of a certified copy (06.05.2025) rejected because Exhibit A was an uncertified copy, no certified-copy application was on record, and the page-137 communication lacked proof of dispatch or delivery; award held duly received under Section 31(5). Keywords: limitation, Section 34, Section 31(5), receipt of arbitral award, certified copy, execution notice, Commercial Court Udaipur.
What did the court decide?
Exhibit A to the petition is the impugned Award dated 11th March, 2019 and is not a certified copy; no application for a certified copy of the Award is on record; the communication relied on at page 137 is unsupported by any proof of dispatch or delivery, and learned counsel for the Petitioner was unable to advance any explanation for Exhibit 'A'.