ELP Arbitration Weekly Update

This week, we have analyzed the Supreme Court’s decision in P.Radha Bai and Ors. v. P. Ashok Kumar and Anr.

The issue which arose for consideration before the Supreme Court was whether section 17 of the Limitation Act, 1963 (Limitation Act), which provides that the period of limitation shall begin to run when fraud played on the award debtor is discovered or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence, can cure the delay in filing an application to set aside an award under section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act).

Upon examining the provisions of the Limitation Act and section 34 (3) of the Arbitration Act, the Supreme Court concluded that where the receipt of the award is admitted and the delivery thereof is not tainted by fraud, section 17 of the Limitation Act would not come to the rescue of a party seeking to challenge an award under section 34 of the Arbitration Act.

We trust you will find this an interesting read. For any queries or comments on this update, please feel free to contact us at Insights@elp-in.com