Case Title: Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd. v. M/S Navigant Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
According to the Supreme Court, the term of limitation for filing the Petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act would begin on the date the signed copy of the award was made available to the parties.
The bench, which included Justices Indu Malhotra and Ajay Rastogi, stated that the award is not final until it is signed.
The court further stated that if one of the three members of an arbitral tribunal delivers a dissenting opinion, it must be presented contemporaneously on the same date as the final judgement, rather than later, because the tribunal becomes functus officio with the passing of the final award. It stated that the period for rendering the award and dissenting opinion must be within the time frame stipulated by Section 29A of the Act. Further, the court observed that:
“There is only one date recognised by law i.e. the date on which a signed copy of the final award is received by the parties, from which the period of limitation for filing objections would start ticking. There can be no finality in the award, except after it is signed, because the signing of the award gives legal effect and finality to the award. The date on which the signed award is provided to the parties is a crucial date in arbitration proceedings under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. It is from this date that: (a) 30 days for filing an application under Section 33 for correction and interpretation of the award, or additional award may be filed; (b) the arbitral proceedings would terminate as provided by Section 32(1) of the Act; (c) the period of limitation for filing objections to the award under Section 34 commences."
Section 31 (1) expressly states that an arbitral award must be made in writing and signed by all members of the arbitral tribunal. If the arbitral tribunal has more than one arbitrator, the award is given when the arbitrators acting jointly eventually declare their opinion in writing, which is confirmed by their signatures. An award only has legal force after it has been signed by the arbitrators, which serves as authentication. The award has no finality until it is signed because signing the award gives it legal effect and legitimacy. Making and delivering the award are two distinct processes of an arbitration proceeding. When an award is created, it is authenticated by the person who created it. The statute requires each member of the tribunal to sign the award for it to be valid. The use of the word "shall" implies that it is an obligatory requirement. It is not only a ministerial act or a meaningless formality that can be skipped.
The bench granted the appeal, noting that the objections in the current instance were made within the time limit specified by Section 34(3) from the date of receipt of the signed award.