The Single Bench of the Delhi High Court in the case of Skylark Cagers India Pvt. Ltd. vs The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences consisting of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh reiterates the purpose of Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is expeditious disposal of arbitration proceedings.
Brief Facts:
This application was filed by the petitioner u/s 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“the Act”) seeking an order extending the time for completion of arbitral proceedings and making of the arbitral award by 4 months.
Contentions Made:
Petitioner: It was contended that the petitioner's 2016 notice of invocation commenced the arbitral proceedings. After submitting all pleadings, including the counterclaim, the case was set for document admission and denial. The petitioner responded to the respondent's counterclaim and other arguments with more documents which were allowed, subject to costs. The parties then agreed to admit or deny the papers, and the petitioner firm produced a list of witnesses, including Sh. Navdeep Pratap Singh's affidavit.
Due to the witness's absence, Sh. Navneet Pratap Singh replaced him and the witness was cross-examined. However, the parties postponed cross-examination to discuss settlement. In 2017 the case was reopened due to no settlement. The Learned Arbitrator ordered the parties to request an extension from this Court to finish the Arbitration procedures when the statutory mandate of one and a half years, including the six-month extension, expired.
Respondent: It was contended that the petition was filed after an inordinate delay of more than 17 months without any valid justification, thereby abusing the due process of law.
Observations of the Court:
The Bench perused Section 29-A of the Act which talks about the time limit for arbitral award and noted that:
“This Court finds it appropriate to reiterate the purpose of establishment of Section 29-A of the Act, 1996, without a doubt is a commendable action. The purpose of this provision is expeditious disposal of arbitration proceedings. The establishment of a time restriction for the proclamation of an arbitral decision would dissuade parties from seeking needless adjournments, which will ultimately favour the litigants who have opted for an alternative dispute resolution process.”
Judgment:
This Court held that the instant petition along with the captioned application for delay in filing the affidavit, had been filed by the petitioner at a very belated stage. Hence, this petition along with pending applications was dismissed being devoid of any merit.
Case: Skylark Cagers India Pvt. Ltd. vs The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences
Citation: O.M.P. (MISC.) 14/2019
Bench: Justice Chandra Dhari Singh
Advocate for Petitioner: Mr. Ajay Dabas
Advocate for Respondent: Mr. Siddharth Panda
Read Order @LatestLaws.com
Picture Source :
