Foreign awards- It is dealt with under Part II of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Foreign award is an arbitral award which relates to differences relating to the matters
considered as commercial under the law in force in India and it’s a result of foreign arbitration.

India is a signatory to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral
Awards, 1958 (“New York Convention”) as well as the Geneva Convention on the Execution of
Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1927 (“Geneva Convention”). If a party receives a binding award from a
country which is a signatory to the New York Convention or the Geneva Convention and the
award is made in a territory which has been notified as a convention country by India3, the
award would then be enforceable in India.

Part II of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act deals with ‘Enforcement of certain Foreign awards’
and it is divided into two parts, Chapter I deals with New York Convention awards and Chapter II
deals with Geneva Convention awards.

The definition of a “foreign award” is given under section 44 and 53 of the Act. According to the
section, For the purposes of Chapter I, “foreign award” means an arbitral award on differences
between persons arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not, considered as
commercial under the law in force in India, in pursuance of an agreement for arbitration to which
the Convention in the First Schedule applies and in one of such territories as the Central
Government, being satisfied that reciprocal provisions have been made.

According to section 46 and 55 of the Act, “Any foreign award which would be enforceable
under Chapter I of Part II shall be treated as binding for all purposes on the persons as between
whom it was made, and may accordingly be relied on by any of those persons by way of
defense, set off or otherwise in any legal proceedings in India and any references in this
Chapter to enforcing a foreign award shall be construed as including references to relying on an
award.”

When a party is seeking the enforcement of a foreign award, under section 47 and 56 of the Act,
they are required to submit the documents as evidence while making an application for the
same before the court.

The conditions for Enforcement of foreign awards are prescribed under section 48 and 57 of the
Act.

Foreign awards and domestic awards distinguished:

1. A domestic award is a result of arbitration carried out domestically and it confines itself to
the territory of India. The conditions for the same are that the parties should have a
nexus or birth to Indian origin.
 Foreign award is an arbitral award which relates to differences relating to the matters
considered as commercial under the law in force in India and it’s a result of foreign
arbitration

2. Enforcement in case of domestic awards

Prior to applying for enforcement and execution of the award awarded by the tribunal, an
award holder will need to wait for a period of 90 days, and during this intervening period
the award may be challenged in accordance with section 34 which provides for the
procedure for application for setting aside an arbitral award.[4] Post expiry of the period,
if a court finds the award to be enforceable, at the stage of execution, no further
challenge will be permitted to question the validity of the arbitral award. As per the new
Amendment Act, a party challenging an award would have to move a separate
application in order to seek a stay on the execution of an award.

Enforcement in case of foreign awards

India recognises foreign awards under the New York Convention and the Geneva
Convention as it is a signatory to the abovementioned conventions. If a binding award is
received by a party from a country that is a signatory to the New York or the Geneva
Convention and the award is made in a territory which has been notified as a convention
country by India in its official gazette, the award would then be enforceable in India.

3. In terms of procedure of execution of award. In case of domestic award there is no

requirement for separate execution of award. Once an award is made and objections are
rejected, the award automatically gets executed and there is no requirement for
application of enforcement of an award. [11]

A foreign award is required to be enforced. Once the court is satisfied that a foreign
award is enforceable the award becomes decree of the court and executable as such.

4. Limitation period for enforcement of awards

In case of domestic arbitral awards the limitation Act 1963 shall apply to arbitrations, as
per section 21 the arbitral proceedings in respect of a particular dispute commence on
the date on which a request for that dispute to be referred to arbitration is received by
the respondent.[8]

In case of foreign awards various high courts have given varying interpretations on the
limitation period within which a party can enforce an award

5. Challenge to arbitral award

In the case of a domestic award a ‘challenge’ to the award can be made under section
34 of the Act whereas no ‘challenge’ proceeding is contemplated for a foreign award.