Delhi High Court: The Court elaborated on Sections 34 and 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 while dismissing an appeal before it for setting aside of an award.
The matter before the arbitrator was in relation to a contract for extraordinary repair (EOR) at Defense Colony in New Delhi. The contract dated back to 1999. The findings of the arbitrator was that the appellant had started the work near the deadline provided by the contract and had continued work with sub-standard material. The appellant also continued working despite direction by the respondent to halt the work.
The Court found no reasonable reason to interfere in the arbitral award. It is well settled that such an award can only be interfered with if it is against the contract between the parties or is against the law of the land or is so completely perverse that the court feels obliged to interfere with the award on grounds of public policy. In the present case, the Court found no infirmity in the arbitral award. Hence, the petition was dismissed with costs of Rs 20,000 to be recovered by the respondent. [M/s. Brij Lal & Sons v. Union of India, 2017 SCC OnLine Del 9931, decided on 17.08.2017]
