ARBITRAL AWARD, ITS FINALITY AND ENFORCEMENT

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

ARBITRAL AWARD:

1. The arbitral award shall be in writing.  An oral decision is not an award under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996;
2. The award shall be signed by the members of the arbitral tribunal;
3. In arbitral proceedings with more than one arbitrator the signatures of the majority of all the members of the arbitral tribunal shall be sufficient so long as the reason for any omitted signature is stated;
4. Date and place are to be mentioned in the award in accordance with Section 20 of the Act and the award should be deemed to have been made at that place;
5. The arbitral award shall state the reasons upon which it is made;
6. If the agreement indicates that no reasons to be given then it is not required to state the reasons;
7. If the award is made on the basis of the settlement on the agreement between the parties to the dispute, then no reasons are to be given;
8. Recording of reasons involves analysis of the dispute to reach a logical conclusions;
9. Award can be divided into four parts, which are preamble, findings of the facts, submission of the parties and conclusion of the tribunal-

a)      The preamble of the award may contain reference to the arbitration, constitution of the Tribunal, procedures adopted by the Tribunal etc.,;

b)      The second part may contain points at issue which may be divided into two, issue of fact and issue for law;

c)      The third part may contain argument for the claimant, argument for the respondents and the findings of the tribunal;

d)     Conclusions of the Tribunal, i.e., award of the Tribunal is the fourth part.

10. The Arbitral Tribunal may award interest at such rate as it deems reasonable on the whole or any part of the money for the whole or any part of the period between the date on which the cause of action arose and on the date on which the award is made;
11. Unless the award otherwise directs the sum directed to be paid carry interest @ 18% per annum from the date of award to the date of payment;
12. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties the cost of arbitration shall be fixed by the Tribunal.  The Tribunal shall specify the party entitled to costs, the party who shall pay the costs, the amount of costs or method of determining the award and the manner in which the costs shall be paid;
13. The costs include the fees and expenses of the arbitrators and witnesses, legal fees and expenses, any administration fees of the institution supervising the arbitration and any other expenses incurred in connection with the arbitral proceedings and the arbitral award;
14. The arbitral award is required to be on stamp paper of prescribed value as applicable at the place of making the award;
15. After making the award, a signed copy should be delivered to each party for appropriate action like implementation of the award or recourse against the arbitral Tribunal.

FINALITY OF THE AWARD:

                        The award shall be final and binding on the parties and persons claiming under it subject to the time limit prescribed under Sec. 33 and 34 of the Act.   The time limits are as follows:

1. Correction and interpretation of the award – 30 days from the receipt of the award;
2. Tribunal making a correction or giving an interpretation on an receipt of application for correction/interpretations – 30 days of the receipt of the request (this period may be extended by the Tribunal);
3. Tribunal making a correction on its own – 30 days from the date of award (This time cannot be extended by the Tribunal);
4. Party applying for an additional award against the claim omitted in the award – 30 days from the date of receipt of the award;
5. Tribunal making the additional award – 60 days of the receipt of the request (This period may be extended by the Tribunal).   The additional award should have the aspects of the award as mentioned above.  
6. Application for setting aside the award – 3 months from the date of receipt of award or the date of disposal of the application in the above categories (The court can extend to a maximum of 30 days).

In the cases of points from 1 to 5 the award becomes final and binding only after the expiry of the above time limits for the application or the disposal of the application.  In the case of point No. 6, the award becomes final and binding if no application is made within the specified period of making the application and the grace period of 30 days.  If the application for setting aside the award has been made in time and admitted by the Court, the award shall not become final and binding till the court rejects the application.

SETTING ASIDE AN AWARD:

                        The following are the grounds on which the award may be challenged before the Court:

• Incapacity of the party;
• Invalidity of arbitration agreements;
• Party applying was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings or was otherwise unable to present his case;
• Award not in accordance with the terms of submissions to arbitration in regard to the dispute;
• Arbitral Tribunal not properly constituted or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties;
• Subject matter of the dispute not capable of settlement by arbitration under the law for the time being in force;
• Award being in conflict with the public policy ofIndia.

INTERIM AWARD:

                        The arbitral tribunal can make an interim arbitral award on any other matter with respect to which it may make a final order.

ENFORCEMENT OF AWARD:

                        When the award is made finality it shall be enforced under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 in the same manner as it if were a decree of court.