The High Court of Delhi dismissed an appeal challenging an order setting aside an arbitral award due to lack of signatures under Section 31, noting no application was made to cure the defect under Section 34.
Appeal dismissed; the order setting aside the arbitral award remains valid.
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SANJEEV JAIN ..... Appellant Through: Mr. Neeraj Yadav, Advocate
versus
DELHI STATE CIVIL SUPPLY CORPORATION LIMITED
..... Respondent Through: Ms. Anju Bhattacharya and Mr. Elgin Matt John, Advocates
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUNIL GAUR
%
O R D E R 02.08.2016
Impugned order of 14th January, 2015 sets aside the Award due to non-compliance of Section 31 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 as the Award is not signed by the other members of the Arbitral Tribunal. Section 31 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 mandatorily mandates that it is required to be signed by at least two members and the reasons for third arbitrator not signing have to be mentioned.
At the hearing of this appeal, the stand of learned counsel for appellant is that on this technical ground the Award ought not to have been set aside and the matter now deserves to be remanded back.
On the other hand, learned counsel for respondent draws the attention of this Court to Sub-section 4 of Section 34 of the Arbitration
FAO 146/2015
Page 1
and Conciliation Act, 1996 which requires that on an application, the court may adjourn the proceedings to enable the Arbitral Tribunal to eliminate the grounds for setting aside the Arbitral Award. No such application has been filed by the appellant. No reason is forthcoming as to why resort to Sub-section 4 of Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was not made.
In such a situation, no fault can be found with the impugned order which sets aside the Arbitral Award. Consequently, this appeal is dismissed.
(SUNIL GAUR) JUDGE
AUGUST 02, 2016 s
FAO 146/2015
Page 2
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the setting aside of an arbitral award for non-compliance with Section 31 of the Arbitration Act precludes the award from being remanded to cure the defect.
2 provisions across 1 enactments
SANJEEV JAIN
DELHI STATE CIVIL SUPPLY CORPORATION LIMITED
SUNIL GAUR
As recorded by the court registry
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