00:00Hello everyone, I am Ansh and this is Adimesh, we are members of the dispute resolution team
00:28of Nishad Desai Associates and in this video we will be discussing various timelines and
00:32limitation periods for filing various petitions and applications under Indian law with reference
00:38to the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996.
00:42So Adimesh, tell me when disputes first arise between parties and when they want to seek
00:48an appointment of an arbitrator or an arbitral tribunal, they have to approach the court
00:54under section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
00:57What is the time period in which they should do so?
00:59Yes Ansh, so the timeline for filing a section 11 is although not prescribed in the Arbitration
01:05and Conciliation Act but we have had a series of judgments from the Supreme Court which
01:10have discussed the timeline for filing an application under section 11.
01:13Now the section 11 prescribes or these judgments rather prescribe a timeline for 3 years for
01:20filing an application under section 11.
01:22Now the question arises when does this timeline of 3 years begin?
01:26The judgments have said that the timeline begins on the date on which the right to sue
01:31accrues.
01:32Now we have another judgment of the Supreme Court which has now recently explained the
01:37phrase as to what the right to sue accrues means or when is the right to sue accruing.
01:44This phrase has now been explained to mean the date of commencement of arbitration and
01:49as we know the Arbitration Act provides for a stage of commencement of arbitration which
01:54is nothing but the issuance of the notice of arbitration.
01:57So effectively the timeline for filing an application for seeking appointment of an
02:02arbitrator under section 11 is 3 years from the notice of arbitration.
02:07Understood.
02:08So in what period should parties apply to set aside an arbitral award?
02:12I understand section 34 of the Arbitration Act deals with this.
02:16Correct.
02:17So as opposed to section 11, section 34 does provide a timeline for filing an application
02:22for setting aside the award.
02:24The timeline provided in this regard is 90 days from the date on which the award is received
02:30by the party.
02:31The section also provides for an extension of 30 days if the party is able to prove that
02:37the party was unable to or circumstances existed which prevented the party from filing a section
02:4334 within that period of 90 days.
02:47Now the extension is 30 days.
02:49So effectively the cumulative period for filing a section 34 is 90 plus 30 or 120 days.
02:56Got it.
02:57So now let's talk about section 37 of the Arbitration Act.
03:01Section 37 deals with filing of an appeal in relation to certain orders related to the
03:05arbitration proceedings.
03:07What are the timelines associated with that?
03:09Okay.
03:10So section 37 provides for filing an appeal.
03:14Now these appeals can be in cases which are a commercial dispute or in cases which are
03:21not a commercial dispute.
03:23Now under the Commercial Courts Act, the definition of commercial matters or commercial suits
03:28is said to be matters which are above the specified value of 3 lakhs.
03:33So for these matters which are commercial matters, the timeline provided for an appeal
03:37under 37 is 60 days from the date of the order under challenge.
03:43Understood.
03:44So now let's move on to part 2 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
03:48What are the timelines associated with enforcement of a foreign award under section 47 and is
03:54there a distinction between the timelines associated with enforcement of a domestic
03:58award and an enforcement of a foreign award?
04:01So definitely there is a distinction between the timeline for enforcing a domestic award
04:05and enforcing a foreign award.
04:07Now the scheme that is provided in the Arbitration Act for enforcement of a foreign award is
04:13that the foreign award must undergo a stage of recognition and enforcement before the
04:18foreign award is actually executed.
04:22As opposed to a domestic award which is understood and actually defined to mean a court decree
04:28under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
04:30Now because the domestic award is considered to be a court decree already under the Arbitration
04:36and Conciliation Act, therefore the timeline for executing a domestic award is 12 years
04:42as per the Limitation Act and which is akin to any other court decree under the CPC.
04:47Now when we come back to talk about the foreign award, because the foreign award needs to
04:51undergo that process of recognition and enforcement, the timeline for filing this petition for
04:56recognition and enforcement is 3 years as has been decided by a series of judgments
05:01including the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in Vedanta International.
05:05Thank you Adhimesh that this was really helpful.
05:07We hope this provides much needed clarity on filing various petitions and applications
05:12in relation to the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996.
05:16We hope you find this useful.
