"I realise that some of my criticisms may be mistaken; but to refuse to criticize judgements for fear of being mistaken is to abandon criticism altogether... If any of my criticisms are found to be correct, the cause is served; and if any are found to be incorrect the very process of finding out my mistakes must lead to the discovery of the right reasons, or better reasons than I have been able to give, and the cause is served just as well."

-Mr. HM Seervai, Preface to the 1st ed., Constitutional Law of India.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Transfer of Arbitral Awards to Court of Execution is Unncessary: SCI Clarifies

Way back in 2011, we did a post providing a descriptive comment on the decision of the Madras High Court in Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. v Sivakama Sundari S Narayana S B Murthy where it was held that it was not really necessary to file the award in the court within whose jurisdiction the award was transferred for the purposes of executing it in another court. But some High Courts had held that it was so required as the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 necessitated it in the context of decrees and that since the arbitral award was deemed to be a decree, the execution of the arbitral award had to also undergo the same rigour. 

In view of the divergence in views of different High Courts, the Supreme Court has clarified the legal position, correctly, in the case of Sundaram Finance Ltd.v. Abdul Samad. This presentation provides a descriptive comment of the judgement of the Supreme Court.

The presentation concludes by arguing that the vestigial requirement of filing the award in the court having jurisdiction over the arbitration for onward transfer to the executing court had the effect of only delaying the award holder from enjoying the fruits of the arbitral award and that the decision has paved way for an easier and more efficient execution of arbitral awards. 

This begs a larger question: Is filing a decree in the civil court which passed the judgement really necessary? 

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