29 October 2021, Friday

2 years ago

Tribunal’s interpretation of contract cannot be disturbed, but award unreasoned on another principal contention, hence set-aside: Delhi High Court

29 October 2021 |GVK Jaipur Expressway Private Limited v. NHAI | OMP (COMM) 377 of 2020| Vibhu Bakhru J| Delhi High Court |SCC OnLine Del 4851

A recent decision of a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court is a noteworthy example of applying the set-aside grounds.

The majority award pivoted on the interpretation of one clause of the contract (Clause 18.1). The court completely disagreed with the tribunal’s interpretation. But it said that that by itself may not make the award amenable to challenge because the court is not required to re-adjudicate the disputes and supplant its view over that of the tribunal unless it is hit by public policy or patent illegality on the face of the award.

There was, however, another clause (clause 18.4) on which the respondent in the arbitration had relied but which the majority award did not consider at all. Accordingly, the court found that not dealing with a principal contention made the award unreasoned and set the award aside.

We have covered this case in an Update here and the PDF can be found here.

Read the judgment here.

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