ARBITRATION AND ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PSDA – 1

SHORT NOTE ON SECTION 34 OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION ACT

During my internship in June under Advocate Shruti Sharma, (Bar at Law), one of the first task
I received was to understand Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. I was asked
to do a detailed research of the section and understand it by referring to the judgements.

Section 34 of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 deals with the procedure for setting
aside an arbitral award, granted by an arbitral tribunal, based on the happening of certain
specific grounds mentioned in 34(1). First and foremost, an application has to be filed by the
party desiring to set aside the arbitral award.
• The party submitting the application has to thereby furnish proof of the occurrence of
situations mentioned in clause 2 of Section 34. Along with furnishing such proof, it has
to be ensured by the party filing the application, that the application has been filed
within three months from the date on which they have received the arbitral award.
Subsequent to furnishing such proof, the court may entertain the application depending
on its satisfaction on the necessity of setting aside such arbitral awards.
• An arbitral award may be set aside by the Court only if the award granted is against the
public policy of India or if the court feels that the subject-matter of the dispute is not
capable of settlement by arbitration. Alternatively, the court may adjourn its
proceedings and direct the arbitral tribunal to resume the arbitral proceedings further or
to take necessary steps as per the opinion of the arbitral tribunal to eliminate the grounds
for setting aside the arbitral award, if doing so is appropriate to deal with the situation
and if the applicant desires so.
Rationale behind Section 34:
The position of an arbitrator is quite a few times explained by the Supreme Court. The decisions
rendered by an arbitral tribunal have a binding nature. Therefore its verdict can be hardly
questioned. Nevertheless, at times, in certain cases, the arbitral tribunal may fail to deliver
justice. Since the primary goal of law is to deliver justice, in order to ensure that, the court of
law has been bestowed with the power of intervention to indemnify the aggrieved party.
Features of Section 34 :
1. It prohibits any recourse against arbitral award other than the one provided for in section
34(1).
2. It limits the grounds on which the award can be assisted in section 34(2).
3. It promotes a fairly short period of time in section 34(3) within which the application
for setting aside may be made.
4. It provides for remission of Award to the arbitral tribunal to cure defects therein.
Case Laws referred were-
1. Vivek Jain vs. UOI (2008)
2. SEAMEC Ltd. Vs Oil India Ltd (2020)
3. National Highways Authority of India vs HCC ltd (2014)

I had to give a brief about these judgements by emphasizing the use of Section 34 of the act.