The State of West Bengal represented through the Secretary & Ors. vs Rajpath Contractors and Engineers Ltd.

Court

Supreme Court of India

Date

8 July 2024

Case No.

Civil Appeal No. 7426 of 2023

Result

Dismissed

Bench

Abhay S. Oka, Pankaj Mithal

Citation

[2024] 7 S.C.R. 1 : 2024 INSC 477

Acts & Sections

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 Limitation Act of 1963 Constitution General Clauses Act, 1897

Issue for consideration

Issue arose as regards correctness of the order passed by the High Court dismissing the petition u/s. 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, holding that it was not filed within the period specified under sub-section (3) of s. 34 of the Act.

Headnote

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 – s. 34 – Application for setting aside arbitral awards – Period of limitation for filing petition u/s. 34 – On facts, petition u/s. 34 filed by the appellant challenging the arbitral award – Dismissed by the High Court, holding that it was not filed within the period specified under sub-section (3) of s. 34 – Correctness:

Held: Period of limitation for filing a petition u/s. 34 will have to be reckoned from the day when the appellants received the award, i.e. 30th June 2022 – In view of s. 12(1) of the Limitation Act, the day from which the limitation period is to be reckoned must be excluded, as such 30th June 2022 will have to be excluded while computing the limitation period – Thus, in effect, the period of limitation, started running on 1st July 2022 – Period of limitation is of three months and not ninety days – Thus, from the starting point of 1st July 2022, the last day of the period of three months would be 30th September 2022 – Pooja vacation started on 1st October 2022 – Three months provided by way of limitation expired a day before the commencement of the pooja vacation – Furthermore, the prescribed period within the meaning of s. 4 of the Limitation Act ended on 30th September 2022 – Thus, the appellants are not entitled to take benefit of s. 4 – As per the proviso to sub-section

(3) of s. 34, the period of limitation could have been extended by a maximum period of 30 days – Maximum period of 30 days expired on 30th October 2022 – Petition was filed on 31st October 2022 – Thus, the High Court was right in holding that the petition u/s. 34 was not filed within the period specified under sub-section

(3) of s. 34 of the Act. [Paras 6, 7, 10,11]

Judgment Abhay S. Oka, J. FACTUAL ASPECTS 1. The first appellant – the State of West Bengal appointed the respondent as a contractor for the construction of a bridge. As there was a dispute between the parties, the respondent invoked the arbitration clause in the contract, and a sole arbitrator was appointed. On 30th June 2022, the Arbitral Tribunal passed an award directing the appellants to pay a sum of Rs.2,11,67,054.00 (Two Crores Eleven Lakhs Sixty-Seven Thousand Fifty-Four Rupees Only) to the respondent with interest thereon, as directed. The counter-claim made by the appellants was d

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