Section 35 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, states that: “Subject to this Part an arbitral award shall be final and binding on the parties and persons claiming under them respectively.”
Now, recourse to a Court against an arbitral award may be made only by an application filed under Section 34 of the said Act for setting aside such award in accordance with the provisions of that Section. Such application for setting aside the arbitration award has to be made within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of the award. However, if the Court is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from making the application under Section 34 to challenge the award within the said period of 3 months, it may entertain the application within a further period of 30 days, but not thereafter. Thus, the total period allowed for making an application for setting aside the award in arbitration is 4 months. Within this period, your opposite party can make an application to set aside the award.
Further, Section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act lays down that where the time for making an application to set aside the arbitral award under Section 34 has expired (i.e., when the period of 4 months has expired), then such award shall be enforced as if it were a decree of the court. However, meanwhile, if an application to set aside the arbitral award has been filed in the Court under Section 34, the filing of such an application shall not by itself render that award unenforceable, but the Court can grant an order of stay of the operation of the said arbitral award for reasons to be recorded in writing. Section 36 is reproduced below:
“36. Enforcement.— (1) Where the time for making an application to set aside the arbitral award under Section 34 has expired, then, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), such award shall be enforced in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in the same manner as if it were a decree of the court.
(2) Where an application to set aside the arbitral award has been filed in the Court under Section 34, the filing of such an application shall not by itself render that award unenforceable, unless the Court grants an order of stay of the operation of the said arbitral award in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (3), on a separate application made for that purpose.
(3) Upon filing of an application under sub-section (2) for stay of the operation of the arbitral award, the Court may, subject to such conditions as it may deem fit, grant stay of the operation of such award for reasons to be recorded in writing:
Provided that the Court shall, while considering the application for grant of stay in the case of an arbitral award for payment of money, have due regard to the provisions for grant of stay of a money decree under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).”
Thus, after waiting for the period of 4 months, you can seek execution of the arbitration award as if it were a decree of a court.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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