Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 – ss.42, 43 – Limitation Act, 1963 – Article 18 – Work completed in the year 2000 – Notice seeking commencement of arbitration issued after 21 years in 2022 – By way of the impugned judgment, Arbitrator appointed by High Court – Sustainability:
Held: Unsustainable – Arbitration though is an alternate dispute resolution system, which has to be encouraged, it cannot deviate from the fundamental principle that law favours the diligent and not the indolent – For recovery of amounts, as in this case, the limitation is three years as provided in Article 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963 – The commencement of arbitration proceedings as per sub-section (2) of s.43 being the date referred in s.21, which is the date on which a request for initiation of arbitration is received by the respondent, the claim itself was hopelessly time barred, the notice having been issued after 21 years – Despite the work having concluded on 30.07.2000, the petitioner did not attempt to raise a bill or initiate the arbitration proceedings till 2022, when a notice requiring commencement of arbitration proceedings was first issued – Appellant slept over its claim for 21 years before the notice seeking arbitration was issued in 2022; an ex-facie dead claim – High Court erred insofar as finding failure on the part of the Engineer-in-Charge to determine the final amount payable, having extended the limitation – If there was such a failure on the part of the Engineer-in-Charge, it was for the contractor to have initiated arbitration then and there – Neither was notice issued for arbitration nor was a final bill raised or a request made to determine the total amount payable – Order initiating arbitration set aside. [Paras 5, 6]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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