Arbitration Act Is Self-Contained Code; Civil Revision Not Maintainable Where Appeal Lies: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has reaffirmed that a civil revision under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure does not lie against such an order passed under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 where the statute provides a specific appellate remedy.

The Court held that the Arbitration Act is a self-contained code and that Section 37 exhausts the appellate remedies.

Justice Ramesh Chand Malviya observed, “It is settled principles of law that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 being a self-contained code, no revision under Section 115 CPC lies against such an order. Section 37 exhausts the appellate remedies and permitting a revision would amount to judicial interference not contemplated by the Act.”

The dispute arose from business transactions between Ankit Enterprises and Ram Sunil Kumar, governed by invoices containing an arbitration clause. An arbitral award dated June 11, 2014 was granted in favour of Ankit Enterprises directing return of Rs. 10.57 lakh. The award was passed by the Hindustan Chamber of Commerce, Mumbai.

The award was later sent to the District Judge of Muzaffarpur for execution. Meanwhile, the Kumar filed a petition under Section 34 challenging the award. Ankit Enterprises objected. It contended that the challenge was barred by limitation and that the court lacked jurisdiction.

By order dated July 22, 2022, the trial court rejected that objection.

Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the High Court under Section 34 of the Act read with Section 115 CPC.

The Court observed that after the 2002 amendment, revisional jurisdiction stood restricted and could not be exercised against interlocutory orders unless a jurisdictional error is shown.

Further referring to Section 5 of the Act, it noted that “notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, no judicial authority shall intervene except where so provided.”  

It relied on Supreme Court precedents emphasising that the Arbitration Act is a special and exhaustive legislation intended to ensure speedy dispute resolution, and therefore judicial intervention must remain strictly within the limited framework provided under the Act.

Clarifying that it was not examining the merits of the limitation or jurisdiction objections, it conclusively held that the civil revision is not maintainable either in law or on facts and dismissed the petition.

For Petitioner (Ankit Enterprises ): Advocates Bishwanath Chaudhary, Arif Daula Siddiqui, Noumaan Ahmad, Varsha Rani

For the Respondents (Ram Sunil Kumar & Anr.) : Advocates Nilanjan Chatterjee,Ujjwal Raj, Sahil Kumar, Anirvan Choudhari, Jyoti Prakash