Courts Act provides that every pleading in a commercial dispute shall be verified in the manner and form as specified in the appendix to the said Rule (Statement of Truth). This Court has accepted that filing a ‘Statement of Truth’ along with the application to set aside an arbitral award arising from a commercial dispute, is necessary14 . Although, by virtue of Section 19 of the A&C Act, the Arbitral Tribunal may not be bound by the provisions of the CPC, the provisions of CPC, insofar as relevant, would apply to proceedings in Court. However, the question whether filing the Statement of Truth for supporting an application filed under Section 34 of the A&C Act is a contentious one as Section 16 of the Commercial Courts Act posits that the CPC as amended by the said Commercial Courts Act would apply to a suit involving a commercial dispute and its trial. And, an application to set aside an arbitral award may not be considered a suit. However, under Rule 17 of the Arbitration Rules framed by this Court in the context of the Arbitration Act, 1940, the provisions of the CPC and the High Court Rules and Orders mutatis mutandis apply to proceedings before this Court. It is not necessary to examine the controversy whether filing of the Statement of Truth in support of the application to set aside the arbitral award is mandatory as it is not disputed that such an application under Section 34 of the A&C Act is required to be supported by an affidavit.
