The Delhi High Court propounded that while dealing with applications under Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as “A&C Act”) the only thing to be considered is whether the Arbitrator has acted expeditiously or not, the issues related to conduct of the Arbitrator and/or fees are irrelevant for this section. Therefore, the time limit for making an arbitral award was extended in the present case.

Brief Facts:

The present petition has been filed under the Section 29A(4) and (5) of the A&C Act.

The Tribunal issued certain directions to the Parties regarding the fees. However, the Respondent failed to comply with the direction and thereafter filed an application alleging grievance regarding the fees. The Application was dismissed by the Tribunal. Thereafter, the Tribunal suspended the counter claim of the Respondent.

At the stage when the case was fixed for final arguments, the Respondent filed a petition seeking the direction for the Arbitrator to fix the fees as per Schedule IV of the A&C Act. The same was withdrawn.

Thereafter, the Petitioner preferred the present petition to seek extension of the mandate of the Tribunal.

Contentions of the Petitioner:

It was argued that extension be granted as the final arguments were also concluded.

Contentions of the Respondent:

It was urged that a new arbitrator be appointed due to the issue of fees.

Observations of the Court:

It was opined that while dealing with applications under Section 29A, the only thing to be considered is whether the Arbitrator has acted expeditiously or not, the issues related to conduct of the Arbitrator and/or fees are irrelevant for this section.

In the present case, it was found that the Arbitrator had acted in a speedy manner and therefore, time was granted for making of the arbitral award.

The decision of the Court:

Based on the aforementioned findings, the Delhi High Court extended the time and accordingly allowed the present petition.

Case Title: Mr. Anay Kumar Gupta v. Mr. Jagmeet Singh  Bhatia

Coram: Hon’ble Justice Sachin Datta

Case No.: OMP (MISC) (COMM) 147/2023

Advocates for Petitioner: Advs. Mr. Shailen Bhatia, Mr. Amit Jain, Mr. Arnav Chatterjee, Mr. Raghav Bhalla

Advocates for Respondent: Advs. Mr. Manish Kaushik, Mr. Ajit Singh Johar, Mr. Plarsh Vashishth, Ms. Snigdha Sharma, Mr. Mishal Johri

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