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2023 (5) TMI 1319 - SUPREME COURTRestoration of Arbitral Award - patent illegality apparent on the face of the award or not - Section 34 of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - HELD THAT:- The High Court could only be said to have misdirected itself on the major issues concerning merits of the award. However, before concluding, it may be observed that it had not been as if the Commercial Court did not examine the material issues arising for determination while dealing with the case in terms of Section 34 of the Act of 1996. It is noticed that after taking note of the submissions of parties, the Commercial Court precisely framed the points for determination and then, dealt with every point on the anvil of Section 34 of the Act of 1996. With respect, it is not found the High Court justified in making a comment about framing of points for determination by Commercial Court and then observing that the Commercial Court merely reproduced the findings of the award. The Commercial Court dealing with Section 34 application was not acting as a Court of Appeal. Yet, looking to the long-drawn arguments, the Commercial Court enumerated the issues raised and then returned the findings after examining the record and while rejecting the submissions made on behalf of the State. There had been no such flaw in the judgment and order passed by the Commercial Court which called for interference by the High Court on the parameters and within the periphery of Sections 34/37 of the Act of 1996. The narrow scope of "patent illegality" cannot be breached by mere use of different expressions which nevertheless refer only to "error" and not to "patent illegality". It is reiterated that what has been stated and underscored by this Court in DELHI AIRPORT METRO EXPRESS PVT. LTD. VERSUS DELHI METRO RAIL CORPORATION LTD. [2021 (9) TMI 1479 - SUPREME COURT] that restraint is required to be shown while examining the validity of arbitral award by the Courts, else interference with the award after reassessing the factual aspects would be defeating the object of the Act of 1996. This is apart from the fact that such an approach would render several judicial pronouncements of this Court redundant if the arbitral awards are set aside by categorizing them as "perverse" or "patently illegal" without appreciating the contours of these expressions. In the impugned judgment, the High Court though referred to the principles laid down by this Court in SSANGYONG ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION CO. LTD. VERSUS NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA (NHAI) [2019 (5) TMI 1879 - SUPREME COURT] but then, reproduced an analysis by a learned Single Judge of the High Court and proceeded to decide the matter with reference to the passages so extracted. The enunciation of this Court ought to have been examined by the Division Bench of the High Court while dealing with the matter at hand, rather than relying on the analysis by a learned Single Judge of the High Court. Nothing more is said in this regard, essentially because the latter decisions of this Court like those in Delhi Airport Metro Express and Haryana Tourism Limited were not available before the High Court at the time of passing of the impugned judgment and order dated 08.03.2021. Nevertheless, the principles expounded by this Court in Associate Builders and Ssangyong Engineering were available and the matter was required to be dealt with in reference to those principles. Leaving this aspect at that, suffice it would be to observe for the present purpose that the impugned judgment and order dated 08.03.2021, insofar it interferes with the findings and the conclusions of the award in question, cannot be sustained and is required to be set aside. Fact of the matter remains that nothing of a patent illegality apparent on the face of the award has been pointed out. The submissions essentially are of indicating some alleged errors on the merits of the case which, as noticed, do not fall within the parameters of Section 34 of the Act of 1996. That part of the impugned judgment and order dated 08.03.2021 as passed by the High Court, which modifies the award dated 16.02.2018 and the order of the Commercial Court dated 12.09.2019, is set aside and consequently, the award in question is restored in its entirety. Appeal of claimant allowed.
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