Excluded Period Need Not Overlap With Limitation Period To Be Excluded In Arbitral Award Execution: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has held that, for the purpose of excluding a period while computing limitation, it is not necessary that the limitation period should have commenced or expired during the period sought to be excluded. Observing that "the period excluded has to be simply excluded", the court ruled that the period excluded by the Supreme Court during the COVID-19 pandemic must be left out while calculating the limitation for the execution of an arbitral award. Justice Abhay Ahuja made the...

Gauhati High Court Refuses To Appoint Arbitrator In Techno Steel-IWAI Dispute, Holds Noida Was Arbitral Seat

The Gauhati High Court has held that Noida was the juridical seat of arbitration in a dispute between Techno Steel and Craft Industries and the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), and therefore declined to appoint an arbitrator for want of territorial jurisdiction. Justice Soumitra Saikia held that the parties had effectively agreed to Noida as the arbitral seat under the contract. The court observed, “This Court will have to hold that in terms of the agreement, the parties have...

Pecuniary Jurisdiction Alone Cannot Confer S.34 Jurisdiction In Arbitration Petitions: Calcutta High Court

On 18 June, the Calcutta High Court held that pecuniary jurisdiction alone cannot confer jurisdiction under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, in the absence of territorial jurisdiction, reiterating that both conditions must coexist for a court to entertain a challenge to an arbitral award. Justice Gaurang Kanth dismissed a petition filed by Kanchan Konwer and another, the widow and son of late Tapan Konwer, who challenged an arbitral award passed in favour of developer...

Arbitral Award Based On Undisclosed Material Violates Principles Of Natural Justice: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 8 June held that an arbitral award becomes patently illegal when the tribunal relies on material not disclosed to a party or taken from external sources without granting an opportunity to respond. Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh while hearing a petition filed by Eicher Motors Ltd. (Eicher), set aside an award granting interest and costs in favour of Ashutosh Ranjit Majumdar after finding that the tribunal relied on undisclosed Yahoo Finance data while computing...

Notice Issued In Name Of Non-Existing Entity Vitiates Entire Arbitral Process: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court has held that a statutory notice issued in the name of a non-existing entity is a nullity and vitiates the entire arbitral process. The court made the observation while setting aside an arbitral tribunal's order passed in proceedings initiated on the basis of a Section 21 notice issued to a dissolved company. A division bench of Justice K. Lakshman and Justice B.R. Madhusudhan Rao observed, “Any statutory notice issued in the name of a non-existing entity is a nullity...

Association's Unilateral Arbitrator Appointment Under Bye-Laws Violates Public Policy: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 8 June held that an arbitral award passed by an arbitrator unilaterally appointed under an association's bye-laws, despite the absence of an arbitration agreement and where one party was not a member of the association, is contrary to Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the public policy of India. Justice Gauri Godse allowed a petition filed by Traviera Silk Mills and set aside an arbitral award passed in favour of Toto Toya Spin under the...

Dissenting Flat Owners Cannot Stall Redevelopment Project By Withholding Consent: Bombay High Court

On 18 June, the Bombay High Court held that dissenting members of a co-operative housing society cannot stall an approved redevelopment project by refusing to execute consent declarations required under a redevelopment agreement, observing that the collective will of the society, and not the wishes of individual members, governs such projects. Justice Amit Borkar granted interim relief to Wadhwa Estates and Developers (India) Pvt. Ltd. and directed the dissenting members of Moon Craft...

Delhi HC Rejects Senior Advocate's Plea For Market-Rate Compensation For Delayed Possession Of DLF Office Units

The Delhi High Court has recently dismissed a senior advocate's appeal seeking higher compensation for the delayed possession of four commercial office units purchased from DLF Home Developers Limited. A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar upheld compensation at ₹25 per sq. ft. per month. The Court rejected the plea to enhance it to ₹200 per sq. ft. per month on the basis of alleged market rental rates. "The interpretation given by the learned Arbitrator to Clause...

Madras High Court Upholds Closure Of Contempt Case After Arbitration Proceedings Were Allowed To Lapse

The Madras High Court has dismissed an appeal against the closure of a contempt petition alleging that a property was sold in violation of an interim injunction obtained under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A division bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and Sunder Mohan noted that while arbitral proceedings had continued until 2018, the appellant had taken no steps thereafter to revive them. In those circumstances, the Bench found no reason to interfere with the order closing the...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside ₹126.77 Crore Arbitral Award Against NHAI Over Assam Highway Project Dispute

The Delhi High Court on Thursday set aside an arbitral award granting ₹126.77 crore to a highway contractor towards costs and confiscated assets in an Assam road-widening project. The Court held that the arbitral tribunal failed to consider extension-of-time decisions that had rejected those claims. A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Vinod Kumar, however, upheld awards totalling ₹35.90 crore towards work executed under the contract and loss of profit.The court allowed an...

Madras High Court Upholds Release Of Vikram-Starrer Dhruva Natchathiram, Dismisses Financiers' Appeals

The Madras High Court has recently upheld an order permitting the release of filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon's long-delayed Tamil spy thriller 'Dhruva Natchathiram'. The court held that a judicially supervised mechanism governing the film's revenues strikes a workable balance between enabling its release and protecting competing claims over its proceeds. A Division Bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi dismissed appeals filed by film financiers K. Prem Kumar and K....

Bombay HC Holds No Arbitration Without Specific Clause Incorporation, Rejects Plea Against Tata Projects

On 17 June, the Bombay High Court held that an arbitration clause contained in a principal contract cannot be imported into a subcontract unless the subcontract specifically incorporates the arbitration clause itself. Justice Arun R. Pedneker dismissed a Commercial Arbitration Application filed by Apurvakriti Infrastructure under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act against Tata Projects Ltd, holding that no arbitration agreement existed between the parties in relation to a Rs....